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Japan's increasing appetite for salmon in sushi dishes presents Scottish salmon producers with a "huge opportunity", according to Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead.
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Mr Lochhead claimed salmon was replacing tuna as the number one choice for sushi in Japan's top restaurants.
He said salmon exports to Japan could be doubled in value if Scotland secured another 1% of Japan's import market.
Mr Lochhead was speaking in Tokyo during a trade mission.
Japan relies on imports for 40% of its salmon market and brings in 85,900 tonnes of the fish annually.
Scotland currently exports just 907 tonnes of salmon, worth £3.2m, to the Asian country.
Commenting after visiting Nobu restaurant in Tokyo, Mr Lochhead said: "By increasing our share of Japan's booming imported salmon market by just a tiny fraction we can increase the value of our exports by a phenomenal amount.
"The Japanese eat 12% of the world's fish yet make up just 2% of the population. So the appetite is there for us to feed the market with our top quality seafood."
'Unique appeal'
He added: "Scottish seafood - including salmon - has unique appeal to the Japanese consumer. It is high quality, sustainably sourced, fresh and flavoursome."
Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation, said Japan was an emerging market with great potential.
He added: "The market value has more than doubled in a three-year period and we are confident that it can grow further."
The trade visit to Asia is a joint initiative by Scottish Development International (SDI) and Scotland Food and Drink.
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A Royal Mail post box has been painted gold in a west Cornwall town in honour of Olympic gold medal winner Helen Glover for her achievement in rowing.
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Every time a British athlete wins a gold medal in the Olympics or Paralympics, Royal Mail will paint a post box gold in their home town.
Although she now lives in Caversham, near Reading, Miss Glover, started her sporting rise to fame in Penzance.
Miss Glover said: "Is that really happening? That is so, so exciting."
"It's great that it's happening to my home town, it's just really nice to be able to give a little bit of excitement back, because I want everyone to feel like they're part of it, because they are," she added.
Helen Glover, 26, and rowing partner Heather Stanning took gold on Wednesday in the Olympic rowing pairs final, winning Britain's first gold medal of the 2012 Games and Britain's first by women rowers.
Heulyn Davies, from Royal Mail, said: "We wanted something to mark what is obviously a wonderful occasion for Helen Glover and for Penzance of course and for all Olympians who win a gold medal for team GB."
The King George VI painted post box - one of Royal Mail's oldest - is situated on Quay Street opposite Penzance harbour and will remain gold for six months.
It is the first time in 140 years the boxes will have changed colour.
The post box in Penzance is the first to be painted and Royal Mail hope it will turn out to be the "first of many more to come".
Mr Davies added: "Let the gold rush begin."
To mark their win, Royal Mail have also printed a stamp depicting the rowing pair.
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"I've always been fascinated by the internet for as long as I can remember.
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By Elisabeth MahyBBC Radio 5 Live
"I spent my teens online, building communities and businesses, growing up in suburban Surrey."
At 30, Adnan Ebrahim is now a seasoned tech entrepreneur.
He founded the website Car Throttle, an online community for car enthusiasts, from his bedroom as a student having demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit from a young age.
Speaking on A Million by 30 with Sean Farrington on BBC Radio 5 Live, he says the first time he saw the financial potential of the internet "was after I started flogging these popular wristbands back in 2005-6 to my mates at school".
'Badly stung'
Adnan explains that "on eBay, they were going for ten times as much as in real life. I created my first auctions and started shipping these wristbands out of my house.
"I would get my mum to run down to the shops and buy as many as she could."
He says he made "pretty good money for a school kid".
At 16, Adnan got into blogging after an unsuccessful venture selling iPods.
"I got stung quite badly. I lost a couple of thousand pounds... it turned out to be a fake seller."
Blogging would turn out to be far more lucrative. He loved cars, so he started writing about them. But to begin with, he kept it a secret.
"I'd come back home from school every day, write some articles, publish. The next day, see how it did, check the traffic... see how many pennies I'd make from the AdSense clicks."
'A second life'
Adnan could see he had the makings of a successful online business idea when the pennies became "ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred... to a couple of thousand dollars a month".
He sold the business at 18 having kept it under wraps from his parents until he needed the requisite legal papers signing.
"It was strange, but I liked the fact that no one else knew what I was doing. It was like a second life that I had online."
'A bit embarrassed'
He also delayed telling his friends about his success.
"No one knew. Aside from my family, I hadn't told any of my friends. I had kept it fairly under wraps.
"I was a bit embarrassed that I had created this second life that no one else knew about. I had been writing and blogging - I was a bit afraid about what people would think about it."
Even once he'd left school and gone to university, where he launched Car Throttle, he chose not to share this part of his life with his friends.
"I didn't tell my flatmates until the second year of living with them... they had no clue I was doing it."
Journalist and author, Trevor Clawson, has been writing about tech startups and fast-growth companies for more than a decade. He says this degree of secrecy isn't uncommon among budding entrepreneurs.
"There are a number of reasons why they might choose to keep a low profile - at least in the early days," he says.
"Fear of criticism can be a factor. When you're developing an idea, it's not necessarily helpful to have it critiqued by friends or associates who may not really understand the concept - especially before it has been fully developed."
'Batman' moment
Adnan says it took "quite a while" before he realised his business was interesting enough to share with his friends:
"I just thought it was a bit geeky and people wouldn't really connect with it." He says attitudes toward tech ventures were different then to what they are now: "I think digital lives were seen as a little bit murky.
"A secret part of my personality existed online and that wasn't something that I was willing to share with the rest of the world back then."
He says he remembers clearly the moment he opened up to his flatmate about Car Throttle, but it wasn't the "unveiling the Batman" moment he was expecting.
"I said, I've got something really big to tell you. I've got this website. And I remember him going 'so what?' it just wasn't a big deal to him."
Adnan remembers when the word "million" started to emerge on his spreadsheet.
"The million number started to come quite quickly, in 2013, 2014, both in terms of the valuation of our business, in terms of hitting our first million pounds in revenue, hitting our first million subscribers on YouTube, having our first million fans on Facebook... we were really gathering pace."
He sold Car Throttle in 2019 to Dennis Publishing, having built an audience of more than 15 million followers and 2.5 billion video views.
Douglas McCabe, an expert in tech and publishing media, and the chief executive of Enders Analysis, says that while the business isn't the most valuable car news title in terms of revenue, its reach and audience has big appeal.
"It offers a new audience, with 60% of customers aged under 35. Its social reach is particularly valuable, being roughly 14 times and 17 times greater than Auto Express and Car Buyer - two of Dennis' car titles."
Adnan was named one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 in 2020.
He says that while he doesn't regret the decisions he made earlier in life - even the mistakes - he wishes he'd been "more aggressive about opportunities".
"I think when you're that young, you have a lot of inferiority complexes," he adds.
Ben Laker, leadership professor at Henley Business School, says young business leaders are often afraid to own their success: "Entrepreneurs don't recognise the person being talked about as successful, as themselves."
Adnan is now chief executive of a mental health startup MindLabs, co-founded with business partner Gabor Szedlak, to "make the world a happier place". And he has some advice for budding tech entrepreneurs.
"It's not an easy route to success, there are a lot of hurdles along the way. You have to realise that you're going to make mistakes and that's completely normal.
"Persistence is one of the main things that you need. A lot of the time it's hard - there's just no other word to describe it."
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The centrist Emmanuel Macron will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a run-off for the French presidency on 7 May, near-final results show.
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With 96% of votes counted from Sunday's first round, Mr Macron has 23.9% with Ms Le Pen on 21.4%.
Opinion polls have consistently predicted Mr Macron defeating his rival in the run-off.
The two fought off a strong challenge from centre-right François Fillon and hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Whoever wins the second round, the voting marks a shift away from the decades-long dominance of leftist and centre-right parties in French politics.
Macron cements his rise
While Ms Le Pen has long been seen as likely to make the second round, Emmanuel Macron's rise has been swift. The BBC's Hugh Schofield says Mr Macron's likely victory is the story of the evening.
He told cheering supporters "we have changed the face of French political life in one year", calling for people to rally against "nationalists".
A former banker, Mr Macron served as economy minister under current President Francois Hollande, quitting to launch a new party.
He has never stood for election before and if he wins would become France's youngest-ever president.
A pro-European, he has called for gradual deregulation of France's economy and a multi-billion dollar public investment plan.
Le Pen hails 'historic' result
As the results came in, Ms Le Pen called herself "the candidate for the people", saying that the "survival of France" was at stake.
"The first step... has been taken," she said. "This result is historic."
Ms Le Pen leads the Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant National Front party. She has attempted to soften the party's tone and brought big gains in the 2015 regional elections.
She has urged a shake-up of France's relations with the EU, calling for negotiations followed by a referendum.
Ms Le Pen also wants immigration to be slashed and the closure of "extremist" mosques.
Inside Macron's HQ - By the BBC's James Reynolds in Paris
At times, Emmanuel Macron's campaign HQ felt like an extremely polite rave.
During the long wait for the candidate to come and speak, loudspeakers played techno music. Volunteers holding French flags swayed; some chanted "Macron President". Most crammed towards the front to get a better look at their candidate.
Mr Macron himself came to cheers. But the campaign supporters inside the arena were not his main audience.
His victory speech was a pre-presidential address, directed towards the rest of the country that did not vote for him. He was sober, sombre, and emotional only when he spoke of his wife's support.
After he left, the crowd drifted away. The DJ played Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire. In the street at night, as I waited to head back into central Paris, I saw no celebrations, no-one honking their car horns. There is still a second round to fight.
Defeated rivals back Macron
Mr Macron is widely seen as favourite in the final round of voting, and in a sign of the uphill struggle Ms Le Pen faces he soon won high-profile endorsements.
Admitting defeat, François Fillon, whose campaign was rocked by corruption allegations, said there was "no other choice" but to vote for Mr Macron.
He polled about 20%, slightly ahead of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Benoit Hamon, the candidate of President Hollande's Socialist Party said "I encourage everyone to fight as hard as they can to fight the extreme right, and to fight for Macron".
He endured a difficult night, polling only just over 6%.
Both Germany and the EU also offered praise for Mr Macron.
Turnout nationally appears to be similar to the last election in 2012, at about 80%. Almost 47 million people were eligible to vote.
Nearly 60,000 police and soldiers were deployed across the country to secure polling, with France still reeling from the shooting of a policeman on the Champs Elysees.
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Rivalry between video game firms Electronic Arts and Activision has gone up a notch, with EA launching a direct rival to Call of Duty by signing part of the team behind the multi-million selling title.
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By Daniel EmeryTechnology reporter, BBC News, Los Angeles
Medal of Honour, the latest in EA's long running series, has dispensed with its World War II theme and has opted to recreate combat in the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
In an interview with BBC News, Frank Gibeau - the president of EA's game label - said that Call of Duty had influenced its decision to move into a modern setting.
However, he acknowledged that a video game set in a current conflict involving American, British and other Nato counties could cause controversy.
"That was the big risk with this project," he said.
"It was one that we took a thoughtful approach too in that a lot of current soldiers are advising us on the game, to ensure it is authentic and realistic," said Mr Gibeau.
Military history
The revamped Medal of Honour follows a number of soldiers serving under the National Command Authority in Afghanistan during the 2001 War. Later missions will put players into the combat boots of a US Army Ranger engaged in long-range missions.
"In prior wars, people would tell their stories on radio, TV, movies, books at the same time a conflict was going on. I think games as a media form are catching up to that, it's a way for soldiers to tell their story," said Mr Gibeau.
"We got a lot of feedback from military families [after the release of the game trailer] that was positive, and thanking us for showing stories of real guys and handling the subject in a serious way, rather than a hyperbolic 'Rambo' sort of way.
"It's important for people to understand what they are going through and the types of choices they have to make. And while a game cannot give you that, it can give people an insight," he added.
Mr Gibeau said EA was working with the Congressional Medal of Honour Society; a body set up by the US government to protect the rights of soldiers.
Two studios are working on EA's shooter - an in-house development team in Los Angeles and Swedish developers DICE - who are working respectively on the single and multiplayer modes.
Staff changes
At an event in E3, the world's largest video game show, EA said that an exclusive Special Edition would be released for the PlayStation 3 that would contain a remastered version Medal of Honour: Frontline. the 2002 release set following the D-Day landings of 1944.
The game is due for release in October 2010 on PC, 360, and PS3.
Another announcement by Electronic Arts could also prove controversial - the firm officially announced a partnership between itself and Respawn, a software development house started by Jason West and Vince Zampella.
The pair founded Infinity Ward - the studio behind the Call of Duty series - were dismissed by Activision for unspecified "breaches of contract and insubordination" in March this year.
Speaking to BBC News, Mr Gibeau said EA had no contact with the pair prior to their sacking.
"We didn't meet Vince or Jason till after they had resigned for Activision," he said.
Call of Duty has been a major asset for Activision, helping to push its market value over $14bn (£9.42bn) mark, nearly three times that of its closest rival Electronic Arts, which has a value of $5bn.
The dismissals triggered a wave of resignations from Infinity Ward with nearly half the workforce leaving the firm, including the lead designer and programmers who worked on Modern Warfare 2.
"Their dispute with Activision became our boon; they have done amazing things and are proven world class creatives," said Mr Gibeau.
But the firm remains tight lipped on what the pair are developing.
"I can't tell you what they are working on, but it's going to be good," he said.
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Nearly 200 business leaders have signed an open letter arguing US moves to restrict abortion are "bad for business".
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The campaign comes as several US states have passed or are considering stricter new abortion laws.
They include controversial "heartbeat bills" which would ban abortion once a foetal heartbeat is detectable.
The letter published in the New York Times said curbs on abortion threaten the health of staff and customers.
The chief executives of Slack, Square, Zoom, and Bloomberg were among those who signed the letter entitled "Don't Ban Equality", according to the American Civil Liberties Union which helped organise the campaign.
"Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health, independence and economic stability of our employees and customers," it said.
"It impairs our ability to build diverse and inclusive workforce pipelines, recruit top talent across the states, and protect the wellbeing of all the people who keep our businesses thriving day in and out."
"Simply put, it goes against our values and is bad for business," the letter said.
Business backlash
The heartbeat bills seek to make abortion illegal as soon as a foetus' heartbeat is detectable.
In most cases, this is at the six-week mark of a pregnancy - before many women even know they are pregnant.
A number of US media giants have publicly stated they will reconsider filming in Georgia if the state's strict new abortion law takes effect.
Disney, Netflix and WarnerMedia have all objected to the legislation.
Bob Iger, the chief executive of Disney, said Georgia's heartbeat bill would make it "difficult" to keep filming there.
WarnerMedia said it would reconsider Georgia "if the new law holds" and Netflix has said it would "rethink" its productions in the state should the law take effect.
Georgia makes billions of dollars from film and television productions.
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The key to making Northern Ireland's health system world class lies with securing an agreement between politicians, Simon Hamilton has said.
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The health minister was speaking ahead of a political summit to be held in February on health and social care.
"We need to take politics out of it as best as we possibly can," he told Radio Ulster's Sunday News.
"I think it is incredibly important that the political parties sit down and agree in so far as they can.
"If we are to get this right and if we are to deliver the world class health social care system Liam Donaldson says we can have, then we need to get political agreement."
Last week, more than 50 health and social care organisations called on Stormont politicians to take urgent action to transform the health care system.
Mr Hamilton has set up a panel of health experts to redesign local health care services, in line with a recommendation from the Donaldson report last year.
The panel is chaired by Prof Rafael Bengoa who is director of the health department at the Deusto Business School in Spain.
Mr Hamilton said the importance of political consensus was critical.
"What I think has been the biggest barrier to the level and degree of change that we have needed in social health care system... has not been a lack of willingness on the part of clinicians and those within the system," he said.
"People understand that change in Northern Ireland needs to happen.
"We need to get political consensus around these very difficult issues or else they are not going to go anywhere."
The health panel is expected to deliver its report by the summer.
You can hear more about this story on Radio Ulster's Sunday News at 13:00 GMT.
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The number of children in Scotland receiving the MMR vaccine by five years of age has fallen slightly but remains "very high", official NHS figures show.
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By the end of March, the three-month figure was 96.6% - down from 97%.
Uptake rates of one dose of MMR by the age of five have remained above the government's 95% target since 2009.
Scotland's chief medical officer welcomed the figures but urged teenagers heading abroad on holiday to make sure they are fully protected.
Dr Catherine Calderwood said young adults remained vulnerable to a recent global surge in measles as a result of anti-vaccine publicity in the early 2000s.
Second dose
She said: "We are pleased to see the really good statistics in Scotland once again.
"We have been over our 95% target since 2009, so the level of immunity against measles in particular in Scotland is very high.
"People seem to be wanting to come forward and have their vaccines done because they understand how important it is."
Dr Calderwood added that an increase in measles cases around the world should not be ignored.
"There was a period of time about 15 or 20 years ago when our vaccine levels were not as good," she said.
"Those babies at that time are now teenagers and young adults. They may not know that they were not vaccinated or they may not have had the second dose.
"So I would really encourage them if they are travelling abroad, or attending festivals or sporting events where there are lots of people, to check out whether they have been vaccinated and that they are fully protected."
The latest vaccination figures show more than 95% of children had received each routine immunisation by the time they were 12 months of age.
Uptake of rotavirus vaccine, which helps protect young children from infection that causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting, was 93.1% by 12 months of age.
This vaccine is given within strict age limits which, according to the NHS Scotland report, "explains the slightly lower uptake rate compared with other vaccines offered in the first year of life".
The figures also show:
'We're now happy with the jags'
Fife teenager Jake Sykes has had his MMR vaccinations at the age of 16 after his parents decided against it when he was a baby.
His father Paul said his son's childhood allergy to nuts, eggs and dairy raised their concerns because some of the vaccines used egg proteins.
In 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a report falsely linking autism and bowel disease to the MMR vaccine.
Even though his paper was discredited and he was struck from the medical register, there was a drop in the number of children vaccinated after his claims.
Mr Sykes, from Cupar, said their fears had now been allayed.
"At the time, we were living in London and there was a fear that MMR might cause autism," he said.
"But that link, I think, has been disproven and now we're happy for him to get the jags.
"With the increase in cases of mumps and measles and things like that, we thought it was a good thing to get it done now."
What is a vaccination?
The NHS says vaccines work by making people produce antibodies to fight disease without actually infecting them with it.
It says the immune system of a vaccinated person who comes into contact with the disease will recognise it, and immediately produce the antibodies to fight it.
According to the health service:
Source: NHS
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There is no application form for the Royal Family. No interview, no appeal, few in the way of entrances or exits. It is that strange lottery, an accident of birth.
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By Jonny DymondRoyal correspondent
But to stay royal you have to do two things. Serve, and survive.
You have to do some service. Some of it ceremonial, and often dull. Some of it - if it involves celebrities or travel - less dull. A lot of it is woven into the civic life of the UK - openings, namings, lunches and dinners.
You have to survive. You have to aid - and certainly not threaten - the survival of the House of Windsor and the British monarchy.
It's not a bad life. It is a constrained life, often unchosen. In exchange for a pretty comfortable standard of living in perpetuity, you lose a lot of choice.
But you must do these two things if you want to remain a royal.
And it's not clear that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex really want to do either.
In Sandringham later the players will receive a series of options, a range of possibilities.
These will be based on the stated aim of Prince Harry and Meghan that they want financial independence, to take paid employment, to spend a lot more time outside the UK, to exclude the media from their lives at their discretion and to continue at least in part, a royal life, service to the Queen.
Leaving aside the heady brew of contradictions detailed elsewhere, the balancing of these different aims and demands is hard enough. Money is a big issue.
But so will be the status of the court of Prince Harry and Meghan that emerges. Will it be entirely independent of the palace, of the monarchy? Will the palace retain any veto on direction or projects for the couple?
Much, says one official, depends on how much royal work the prince and Meghan intend to do, and where.
To watch Prince Harry for not very long, as I have, is to observe a man who comes alive with crowds, with love, with those who need him.
But also to see a man entirely unhappy with his lot. A man who desperately wants to get away from cameras, observers, outsiders, looking and filming and exploiting him.
Now the prince, who has worn the nation's uniform in combat and amongst death and injury, is openly sneered at across pages and feeds and memes. It is hardly a great national moment.
Prince Harry has had a hard time, from when his mother was taken from him, a boy aged 12. It is important to remember also because it demolishes the Meghan Myth - that somehow she is the root of all today's turmoil.
The Meghan Myth is nonsense, with a generous sprinkling of spite, misogyny and some racism. The prince always wanted out. And together, with her brains and understanding and love, they think they have a way.
Maybe a deal comes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. But what are not up for negotiation are service and survival. Both must be observed by Prince Harry and Meghan if they are to remain royals.
'Looking for exit'
Perhaps Prince Harry's allergy to media coverage can be managed at those royal events and duties he attends. Perhaps the couple will make themselves available to a significant and visible degree of service.
But the style of their departure from familial obligation, their declaration of independence last week, was so abrupt and so disrespectful.
The duke has gone beyond rebellious prince. Meghan, the enabler, is in Canada, with child and dogs. That degree of going rogue looks quite a lot like a direct threat to the survival of the monarchy.
That is why today's meeting is hard.
Maybe the two sides can strike a deal over the next day, two days, invent a new structure that officials say might be emulated for a new royal generation.
But will the couple really agree to the restrictions that service and survival demand?
A deal will probably be crafted - however the direction of travel is one way. Prince Harry and Meghan are looking for the exit.
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With Strictly Come Dancing beating The X Factor in the ratings on Saturday , we look at why the musical talent programme may be losing viewers, and why the celebrity ballroom show is creeping ahead.
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Simon Cowell's absence
The music mogul created the show, and as its head judge has been the biggest personality on the programme since it began in 2004. Audiences loved to hate him and could not help tuning in to hear his brutally honest critiques of contestants. This is the first year Cowell has not been on the UK panel, a move that the Daily Mail said was like "Christmas without Santa Claus".
The plain-speaking pundit is now working on the US version of The X Factor. Take That's Gary Barlow has taken over the helm and appears to have upped the mean factor since he joined the panel. But there can only be one Simon Cowell.
Nation's sweetheart Cheryl Cole left The X Factor in the UK to become a judge on the US version, but was dropped shortly after she began filming. Dannii Minogue also left the UK show. The pair were replaced by Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland and Tulisa Contostavlos of N-Dubz. But with Louis Walsh as the only original judge, perhaps it was too radical a change for viewers.
Before the series began, Rowland and Contostavlos were arguably less well-known to some sections of the viewing public.
But when the panel first appeared on TV, The Sun said: "Panic over, folks. It's had more changes than Anne Hathaway at the Oscars, but the new panel is a hit."
Although Johnny Robinson has been somewhat moulded into a novelty act with his outrageous outfits and high-pitched vocals, there is no obvious joke performer with little or no singing talent on the current series - think Wagner from last year and Jedward in 2009. Eccentric hopeful Goldie pulled out before this year's live shows began. But with the judges concentrating on more serious acts, has it lost the fun factor?
Are the public growing tired of the show's format after eight years with the seemingly contrived arguments between judges, turbo-charged production values, dramatic voice-overs and tear-jerking stories from hopefuls?
And some recent winners have not fared so well in the pop charts, while fans have complained about the calibre of this year's line-up. Maybe the show needs another Leona Lewis to attract more viewers.
Many fans and critics say this year's ballroom line-up is the best yet. The BBC has chosen more celebrities of a certain age than previously - Edwina Currie, Rory Bremner, Russell Grant, Nancy Dell'Olio, Lulu and Anita Dobson - which appeals to an older demographic.
Dell'Olio's hapless attempts to master routines and Grant's larger-than-life personality have proved an attractive draw.
But the line-up also includes the likes of Harry Judd, Holly Valance and Chelsee Healey, who provide the eye candy and are proving adept dancers. The Telegraph pointed to the appeal of Jason Donovan's talented footwork.
Strictly, with its family atmosphere and less intense competitiveness, arguably appeals to a wider proportion of the population.
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The UK has had the wettest winter since national records began in 1910, the Met Office has confirmed.
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Separate records held for England and Wales also show the heaviest rainfall since they were started in 1766.
Regional records have also been beaten, with the flood-hit South East of England getting well over double the rainfall expected in a normal winter.
The persistent string of powerful storms and heavy rain brought extensive flooding to parts of the UK.
Record winter rain
517.6mm
for the UK, wettest since 1910
435mm
for England and Wales,
wettest since 1766
It was 1.5° warmer than average across the UK
108mph strongest gust, recorded in Aberdaron, Wales on 12 Feb
12% more sunshine than average in southern England
Source: Met Office
About 6,500 homes have been affected by flooding since December, with many people forced to evacuate their homes.
Provisional figures released by the Met Office said 517.6mm of rain fell in the UK between December 1 and February 24.
It compares with an average winter rain fall of 330.4mm between 1981 and 2010.
The south-east and central southern England had already broken the winter record on 11 February with a total of 439.2mm. The previous record had stood since 1914-15.
According to the England and Wales precipitation records, some 435mm of rain fell this winter, beating the previous highest total of 423mm also set in 1914-1915.
A Met Office statement said: "We have seen some contrast between the south and north of the UK, with northern Scotland having received a third more rainfall than its long-term average in contrast to the almost two and a half times seen in south-east and central southern England.
"The main reason for the mild and wet winter weather is that we have seen a predominance of west and south-west winds, bringing in mild air from the Atlantic - as well as the unsettled and at times stormy conditions."
The mild weather means the UK is also on target for its fifth warmest winter since records began in 1910.
The average temperature over the past three months was 5.2C (41.4F), about 1.5C higher than the typical winter.
The latest UK-wide figures also show the heavy rain in February led to south-east and central southern England receiving 133.3mm, almost two-and-a-half times the monthly average.
South-west England and south Wales received 201mm, double the average rainfall.
Two severe flood warnings - meaning danger to life - remain in place in Somerset, which has seen an onslaught of flooding this winter.
The Environment Agency (EA) said the country's largest-ever pumping operation is continuing to reduce flood water on the Levels and Moors.
Across the rest of southern and central England river levels continue to fall slowly, including along the Thames and the Severn.
But affected properties are expected to remain flooded for "some time", the EA added.
The flooding caused widespread disruption to travel services, including damage to rail services in the west country, and has impacted on local business and tourism.
Earlier this month, David Cameron announced that a government scheme to provide grants for homeowners in England hit by the floods would begin on 1 April.
Claimants will be eligible for payments of up to £5,000 to help cover future protection for properties.
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The child killer Robert Black, who was convicted of the murders of four children from across the UK in the 1980s, has died in prison.
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Black, 68, had a history of abducting, abusing and murdering young girls.
His victims were Jennifer Cardy, nine, of County Antrim, Sarah Harper, 10, of Leeds, Susan Maxwell, 11, of Northumberland, and Caroline Hogg, five, of Edinburgh.
Black died of natural causes in Maghaberry prison, Northern Ireland.
In a statement, the Northern Ireland Prison Service confirmed that a "68-year-old prisoner" had died at the high-security jail in County Antrim.
"While this is not being treated as suspicious, the Prison Service has informed the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Coroner, and Prisoner Ombudsman," the statement added.
"It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."
Black, originally from Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, was a predatory paedophile with a long criminal record of sexually abusing young girls.
In 1963, when he was 16, he abused a seven-year-old girl in a disused air shelter near his then home in Greenock near Glasgow.
When he was 19, he was convicted of indecently assaulting the young daughter of the family he had been lodging with.
Jennifer Cardy's killing was the first murder that he was known to have carried out, but it was the last one of which he was convicted.
Black's job as a delivery driver meant he travelled widely across the UK and, at the time, he was in Northern Ireland driving for a London-based poster company.
His nine-year-old victim was cycling to a friend's house near her home in Ballinderry, County Antrim, on 12 August 1981 when Black abducted and sexually assaulted Jennifer, before dumping her body in a dam.
'A lost cause to humanity'
In 2011, the police officer who led the Jennifer Cardy murder inquiry described Robert Black as "a lost cause to humanity".
Det Supt Raymond Murray said "good, old-fashioned police work" had solved one of the longest police investigations ever conducted in Northern Ireland.
"It was trawling through literally tons of material and checking every minute aspect to pull together all the pieces of this jigsaw from many parts of the UK," he added.
Read more.
The following year, Black abducted and murdered 11-year-old Susan Maxwell, who had been walking to her home in Cornhill on-Tweed, Northumberland.
In 1983, five-year-old Caroline Hogg disappeared from outside her home in Portobello, Edinburgh, and was later found dead in a ditch in Leicestershire.
Three years later, Black abducted 10-year-old Sarah Harper as she walked from a corner shop near her home in Morley, Leeds.
Sarah's body was later discovered in the River Trent in Nottingham.
Rescue
Black was eventually arrested in 1990, when police stopped his van and found a six-year-old girl bound and gagged in the back of his vehicle.
The child, who had been kidnapped from a village in the Scottish Borders, was rescued by police but the case led detectives to Black's previous victims.
In 1994, Black was convicted for the murders of Susan, Caroline and Sarah.
He was already serving life sentences for the three killings when he was found guilty of Jennifer's murder in 2011.
Reacting to the news of Black's death in prison on Tuesday, Jennifer's mother Pat Cardy said her family had "mixed feelings" but added that it had not yet sunk in.
"We certainly have no pleasure that he has gone," Mrs Cardy said.
"I'd like to have known the man, to have had more time to prepare himself for his death," she said.
Jennifer's brother, Phillip Cardy, said he did not hate the child killer but added that the main focus of attention should be his victims.
"I have no hate for him, I couldn't muster the hate for him," Mr Cardy said.
"It's a real shame that victims and their families are not remembered as much as the murderer. Everybody knows Robert Black but not everybody knows Susan Maxwell and Sarah Harper and Caroline Hogg and Jennifer. People forget very quickly."
He added: "All those wee girls never got a chance to live a life - it's sad."
BBC NI reporter Gordon Adair's Cardy trial memories:
Rarely, if ever, have I seen an outpouring of emotion like that triggered when the jury foreman at Armagh Crown Court uttered the single word "guilty" in 2011. Thirty years after her death, justice had finally caught up with Jennifer Cardy's killer.
Jennifer's family, jurors, journalists, and even detectives wept. The only person who showed no emotion was Robert Black.
He sat - as he had done throughout the trial - gazing towards the front of the court. No matter how horrific or distressing the evidence had been, he demonstrated not a single flicker of concern; not for Jennifer, not for her family.
Black never accepted his guilt, never showed any remorse, never apologised. At his sentencing, his barrister took the unusual step of standing up, saying: "I intend to say nothing in mitigation" and sitting back down.
Looking back now on Black's life there is, again, little to be said in mitigation.
In addition to the four murder convictions, Black attempted to abduct a 15-year-old girl in Nottingham in 1988, and was suspected of other unsolved crimes against children.
In 2005, he was arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police investigating the murder 13-year-old Devon schoolgirl Genette Tate in 1978, but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
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The UK's longest serving mayor has been deselected by his party after 23 years in power.
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Sir Robin Wales, the Labour mayor of Newham in east London, has been replaced in May's local elections by Rokhsana Fiaz.
Sir Robin had faced opposition from some within his party who wanted to see change.
Ms Fiaz, who has been a councillor for four years, called on Labour to "unite" and "be truly radical again".
The former charity chief said if she is elected, her priority will be housing, promising an "ambitious programme of genuinely affordable housing, with an initial target of 1,000 over four years".
She said the council owns "enough land to build 35,000 homes".
In her campaign, Ms Fiaz, who is backed by pro-Jeremy Corbyn pressure group Momentum, also promised a referendum on the directly elected mayoral system at the council.
Analysis: Susana Mendonca, BBC Radio London's political reporter
Sir Robin Wales has ruled Newham for 23 years - first as Labour council leader and then as directly elected mayor when that role was created in 2002.
Under his leadership Newham was transformed, not least because of the regeneration that came with the 2012 Olympics - which saw what's now known as the London Stadium built in the borough.
But he made enemies in his own party along the way - with some unhappy at his forthright leadership style.
A trigger ballot in which Sir Robin was automatically reselected as Labour candidate two years ago was challenged by his opponents - who claimed there were irregularities.
Last month, the Labour Party decided to rerun the contest as an open selection. Sir Robin lost by 861 votes to 503.
Rokshana Fiaz described herself as the "unity candidate" insisting other groups within the local Labour Party have also supported her.
Sir Robin congratulated Ms Fiaz but described her promises as "ambitious" and said he was "looking forward to seeing" her implementing them.
He also said the local party had "fallen into internal sniping and disputes often based on untruths" over the last few months.
Labour currently holds 59 of 60 seats on Newham Council with one seat held by an independent who was thrown out of the party.
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A 73-year-old woman has died 11 days after a mugging in Birmingham.
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She was attacked on Petersfield Road, Hall Green, on 5 February, falling to the ground and dislocating her shoulder after a struggle.
West Midlands Police said her cause of death is yet to be ascertained and two other women were also targeted within hours of the unsuccessful bag-snatch.
Two men and two boys have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, robbery and assault.
Det Insp Richard Marsh said: "My thoughts are with the family of the woman who has died at this tragic time. They are being supported by specialist officers and updated with all developments.
"We're working tirelessly to understand what has happened and will continue to do all we can to protect those who are most vulnerable in our communities.
After the attack in Petersfield Road, a 57-year-old woman had her bag snatched on Westfield Road, Acocks Green, and a 67-year-old woman experienced a similar attack on Hazelwood Road, Acocks Green, a short time later.
The victims each reported their attacker getting away in a grey Volkswagen Bora or a "dark-coloured car", police said.
On Wednesday, three men, aged 20, 22, and 18, were arrested on suspicion of robbery and manslaughter.
A 15-year old boy was also arrested on suspicion of robbery and manslaughter, along with a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of robbery and a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of assault with intent to rob.
The police have stepped up patrols in the area.
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The NHS has set out plans for the second phase of the epidemic, including stepping up non-Covid-19 urgent services over the next six weeks as it attempts to return to normal.
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In a letter to local trusts and GPs, the head of NHS England said urgent outpatient appointments should go ahead and routine surgery could be restarted.
But GPs are encouraged to continue to use online consultations.
Regular testing will be offered to all staff - even those with no symptoms.
The letter, written by chief executive Sir Simon Stevens and chief operating officer Amanda Pritchard, sets out the NHS's approach in the coming weeks, following a drop in hospital patients with Covid-19 over the past two weeks in England.
It says the pressure on many staff will "remain unprecedented" and employers must keep them safe.
Staff from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, who could be at greater risk from the virus, should be "risk-assessed" as a precaution.
Public Health England has already been asked to look into data suggesting ethnic minorities may be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.
The letter's other recommendations include:
There have been concerns people are not seeking medical care as they normally would because they are afraid of catching the virus and over-burdening the NHS, putting their long-term health at risk.
The letter says there has also been a reduction in road traffic accidents and major trauma during the lockdown - and it is uncertain when the "rebound in emergency demand" will happen.
The letter also says:
And it encourages GPs - and hospital outpatient departments, unless there is a good reason not to - to continue to use online consultation so patients can be "directed to the most appropriate member of the practice team straight away".
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First Minister Carwyn Jones says Wales will miss out on important infrastructure projects unless his government has the power to borrow money.
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He used the example of the M4 in Port Talbot, saying potential improvements would need funding with borrowed money.
The Welsh government is calling for borrowing powers as part of reforms to the way it is funded.
In a speech, Mr Jones also repeated a call for a written UK constitution.
The motorway in Port Talbot was likely to become "very crowded" in the future, prompting the need for money to be spent on it, said Mr Jones.
"The only way that can be done is through borrowing powers," he told a conference on constitutional reform and devolution in Cardiff.
Northern Ireland's devolved administration can borrow money and borrowing powers are being given to Scotland.
If the same did not happen for Wales there was a danger that schemes would not go ahead "simply because of their geography", the first minister claimed.
"That clearly cannot be right. We have to be in the same position as England, Scotland and Northern Ireland."
He said the Treasury had never contested the Welsh government's evidence that it is "underfunded" by the formula for handing out money to the devolved administrations.
A report commissioned by the previous Welsh government said it was being short-changed by the Barnett formula.
A separate UK government commission is looking into whether responsibility for some taxes could be devolved to Cardiff.
But Mr Jones said: "We can't go ahead with fiscal devolution without funding being addressed otherwise we risk locking ourselves into the current Barnett formula which is to our detriment."
In a wide-ranging speech, he said it was not fair that agriculture ministers from Westminster spoke for the whole of the UK at the EU.
He said: "There are four agriculture ministers in the UK and yet at the European Council of Ministers the politician who is effectively the English agriculture minister casts a vote on behalf of the four of us."
Defining what he called the "Bridgend question" - after his own constituency - Mr Jones said: "That seems to me increasingly unsatisfactory and unsustainable as time goes by."
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A rare tropical cyclone has made landfall on Yemen's southern coast, flooding the port city of Mukalla.
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Thousands fled as the storm, named Chapala, brought hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and huge waves to the area. There were no reports of casualties.
Mukalla is controlled by militants from al-Qaeda and residents warned it was ill-equipped to deal with a disaster.
On Sunday, the cyclone battered the remote Yemeni island of Socotra, killing at least one person.
Chapala is believed to be the most powerful storm Yemen has seen in decades.
It comes as the country experiences a humanitarian crisis as a result of a war between forces loyal to the government and the Houthi rebel movement.
'Enormous damage'
At 09:00 GMT on Tuesday, the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) reported that the cyclone was generating gusts of up to 167 km/h (103 mph) when it briefly made landfall west of Mukalla, before tracking back into the Gulf of Aden.
Hours later, Chapala hit the Yemeni coast again west of Balhaf, site of Yemen's liquefied natural gas terminal, and was expected to move west-north-westwards.
The JTWC said the storm system would rapidly decay over the next 24 hours due to the interaction with the rugged and dry terrain of Yemen's Central Highlands.
The cyclone could nevertheless deluge parts of the country with up to 50cm (20in) of rain in two days - 10 times the annual average.
Residents of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that the seafront promenade and many homes had been destroyed by the cyclone.
Water had submerged cars on the streets and dozens of families had fled a hospital because of the risk of rockslides, they added.
"The wind knocked out power completely in the city and people were terrified," one man said. "Some residents had to leave their homes and escape to higher areas where flooding was less."
Yemen's Fisheries Minister Fahd Kafain told the AFP news agency that Chapala had caused "enormous" damage and that he feared there would be fatalities.
The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had delivered trauma kits for 1,000 patients in Mukalla, which has been controlled by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula since April, and was providing fuel for hospitals and ambulances.
The effects of the cyclone, it added, would be felt over large parts of Yemen but were likely to be more severe in Shabwa and Hadramawt.
The provinces have a combined population of 1.8 million, including more than 100,000 internally displaced persons and 27,000 refugees and migrants.
Chapala earlier wreaked havoc on Socotra, situated 368km (230 miles) south of the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Sea.
At least one person was killed and more than 200 were injured as the cyclone passed over the island, generating gusts of up to 240km/h (150mph) - equivalent to a category 4 hurricane.
The mayor of the provincial capital, Hadibu, told AFP that dozens of houses and hamlets were severely damaged or washed away.
Socotra is home to about 50,000 people and hundreds of exotic plant species found nowhere else, including dragon's blood trees.
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A jury has been unable to reach verdicts on a number of charges against a former army captain accused of stealing weapons from an army base.
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Peter Laidler, of Marcham, Oxfordshire, was acquitted of nine counts of theft and one of handling stolen goods.
The jury at Winchester Crown Court was unable to reach verdicts on a further four theft offences against him.
It also failed to reach a verdict on a count of handling stolen goods against Roger Smith, of Emsworth, Hampshire.
Mr Smith, 61, a Ministry of Defence police officer, was earlier acquitted of five charges of handling stolen goods.
Stuart Pemberton, 52, of Warminster, Wiltshire, was also found not guilty of one count of handling an allegedly stolen sniper rifle said to have been worth £50,000.
A fourth defendant, Adrian Bull, 64, of Devizes, Wiltshire, was earlier acquitted of three counts of handling stolen goods after the judge said there was no case to answer.
The case has been listed to be heard at Salisbury Crown Court at the end of January to determine whether there will be a re-trial.
The trial heard Mr Laidler, 71, a former police officer, allegedly stole rifles while he worked as the armourer for the Small Arms School Collection in Warminster.
The defendants denied all the charges.
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Ed Miliband has won the Labour leadership after narrowly beating brother David in a dramatic run-off vote ahead of the party's conference.
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Ed won by just over 1% from former foreign secretary David after second, third and fourth preference votes came into play.
He said a "new generation" had taken charge of Labour and it had to change.
Ed Balls was third, Andy Burnham fourth and Diane Abbott last in the ballot of MPs, members and trade unionists.
Mr Miliband, 40, replaces acting leader Harriet Harman in the contest triggered by the resignation of Gordon Brown.
Winning line
The former energy secretary appears to have benefited from a last-minute surge of support before voting in the postal ballot closed on Wednesday.
Older brother David won a majority of support from Labour's MPs at Westminster and party members, but Ed was ahead among members of trade unions and affiliated organisations in Labour's electoral college voting system.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said in the first three rounds of voting David Miliband was ahead - it was only when votes were reallocated as the other candidates were knocked out that his younger brother was pushed over the winning line.
Mr Miliband hugged David after the result was announced.
In his victory speech, he vowed to unify the party, telling delegates: "The Labour Party in the future must be a vehicle that doesn't just attract thousands of young people but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of young people who see us as their voice in British politics today."
He paid tribute to his predecessors Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, but added: "We lost the election and we lost it badly. My message to the country is this: I know we lost trust, I know we lost touch, I know we need to change.
"Today a new generation has taken charge of Labour, a new generation that understands the call of change."
'Brilliant campaign'
Mr Miliband received a standing ovation from delegates as he made his way from the hall, with his brother David at his side.
Former minister Tessa Jowell told BBC News David Miliband's defeat will be a "moment of tremendous pain and disappointment" for him.
But the former foreign secretary was doing his best to put a brave face on it, telling BBC News: "This is Ed's day, it's a big day for the Miliband family, not quite the day for the Miliband family that I would have wanted - the Milband D family, rather than the Miliband E - but that's the way things go."
He said the party now had to rally behind his brother and there was a "strong mood" within Labour to do so.
He refused to talk about his own future, amid speculation about whether he would serve under Ed.
Ed's former Treasury colleague Ed Balls paid tribute to his "brilliant campaign" adding: "It's a hugely important moment for the Labour Party, now we have got to come together."
He said Mr Miliband had to be given "the time and space to get this right".
Diane Abbott, the most left wing of the five said Mr Miliband "will make a fantastic leader".
'Cut the deficit'
Mr Miliband singled out Ed Balls for praise in his victory speech, leading to instant speculation that the shadow schools secretary could be in line for a top job after next month's shadow cabinet elections.
Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi congratulated Mr Miliband on becoming leader of the opposition, but she told BBC News he owed his victory to votes of trade unionists, which she feared would lead to an "abandonment of the centre ground" by Labour.
She said it was now time for Mr Miliband to "to tell us how he'd cut the deficit".
Prime Minister David Cameron called Mr Miliband from his Chequers country retreat to congratulate him on his victory.
In a three-minute conversation, he told the new leader of the opposition that people would tell him that his was "the worst job in the world" but that it was not that bad and promised to keep him in touch with matters of national security.
Ed Miliband responded by saying that he would lead "a responsible opposition" which would work with the government where they could, according to the BBC's Nick Robinson.
Ed Miliband, who has been MP for Doncaster North since 2005 and was energy and climate change secretary until Labour's election defeat in May, is a former aide to Gordon Brown at the Treasury, who joined the Labour Party at the age of 17.
The son of the late Marxist intellectual Ralph Miliband, he is the 20th person to take on the leadership of the Labour Party.
He positioned himself to the left of his brother, the former foreign secretary who is five years older and who started the four-month contest as frontrunner.
He sold himself to party members as the "change" candidate, securing the backing of three of the four biggest trade unions - Unite, Unison and the GMB.
Under Labour's complex electoral system, voting power is divided equally between three sections: MPs and MEPs, affiliated organisations including trade unions and ordinary party members.
If no single candidate secures 50% or more of the first round vote, the last-placed contender is eliminated and the second preferences of their backers are redistributed.
The elimination process continues until one of the candidates reaches 50% or more, potentially ending, as in this case, as a head-to-head fight between two of them.
After four rounds of voting Ed Miliband won with 175,519 votes, while David Miliband received 147,220 votes.
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England's Women's World Cup squad carry the hopes of an entire nation on Tuesday night in their semi-final clash with the USA.
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The Lionesses are also a distinctly northern group, with the majority of the 23-strong squad born in north-west or north-east England or Yorkshire.
Not a single player was born in London, the East or the South West of England, with just three born in the South East.
Merseyside has provided four of the players, with defender Alex Greenwood and forwards Toni Duggan and Nikita Parris all born in Liverpool and Jodie Taylor over the river in Birkenhead.
Arguably goalkeeper Karen Bardsley should not be on the map as she was born in Santa Monica, California.
However, she plays for England - and has now done so in three World Cups - thanks to her family ties to Stockport and plays for Manchester City, so she takes the north's tally of players to 16.
Elsewhere in the North West, Keira Walsh is from Rochdale, and Abbie McManus from Prestwich, Bury. Georgia Stanway was born in Barrow-in-Furness.
From the North East, the team's captain Steph Houghton is from Durham, Jill Scott from Sunderland, Demi Stokes from South Shields and Carly Telford from Newcastle.
Right at the top comes Lucy Bronze from Berwick-upon-Tweed.
England boss Phil Neville called the goalscoring right back "the best player in the world, without a shadow of a doubt" after the win over Norway on Thursday but if she had been born just three or four miles further north she could have been playing for Scotland.
The northern dominance of the England squad is also a trait of the men's team, as we illustrated this time last year, but for the Lionesses the ties to Yorkshire are more spread out, instead of concentrated around Sheffield.
Defender Rachel Daly was born in Harrogate while forward Beth Mead is from Whitby and midfielder Lucy Staniforth is from York.
From the East Midlands are Chesterfield-born Millie Bright, Jade Moore from Worksop and Mary Earps from Nottingham.
The only southern-born players are Leah Williamson from Milton Keynes, top-scorer Ellen White from Aylesbury and Fran Kirby from Reading.
Completing the squad - and its longest-serving player - is Karen Carney from Solihull, the only West Midlander in the team.
One reason why the north is so prominent in the squad is there are more football talent centres per head of population in the north than in the south.
Dr Julia West from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Worcester, said: "There is a higher population density in the south of the country so you might think there should be more elite players from the south.
"However, there are fewer higher tier regional talent clubs so there may be fewer elite pathway spaces proportionately."
Jen O'Neill, a former Sunderland player and editor of the women's football website SheKicks.net, said there would be various reasons why so many players come from the north.
"If you are sporty in the north, then you'll probably play football," she said.
"It's in the culture, it's all around and it's the most accessible sport. There's a toughness about northern girls, although it sounds like a stereotype."
Referring to Sunderland, where seven of the World Cup squad have played at some point in their careers, she said: "It's not that the north is better geared up [for women's football] but there are a few clubs that have done a really good job."
She also praised Everton, where Duggan, Parris and Greenwood have all played, as well as clubs such as Leeds and Sheffield.
Tina Hamilton, the chairwoman of Formby Community FC, presented the Women's FA Cup at Wembley in 2018 because of her work in grassroots football in Liverpool.
She said: "We're hardy in the north and we're used to dreadful weather and kids are getting out there in all conditions.
"The north has a real passion for football that runs through families. Football is becoming football, not 'girls' football' and 'boys' football'."
England take on the USA in the semi-final of the 2019 Women's World Cup at 20:00 BST on Tuesday. Full coverage is on BBC1, the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport App.
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The Chancellor, George Osborne, has committed £4m to an air ambulance service in Northern Ireland.
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It is expected to be closely based on the Welsh model, which has three helicopters and is run by a charity, but staffed by the NHS.
Northern Ireland is the only region of the UK which does not currently have a helicopter emergency medical service.
However, on Wednesday, Mr Osborne announced that about £4m in Libor fines would be used to fund one.
Libor stands for the London Interbank Offered Rate. It is the interbank lending rate that benchmarks interest rates across the UK.
The so-called Libor scandal arose when it was discovered that banks were falsely inflating or deflating their rates so as to profit from trades.
Fines
Millions of pounds have been raised in fines.
It is not yet known where the ambulance will be based.
DUP leader and first minister Arlene Foster has supported basing an air ambulance in her constituency at the St Angelo airstrip near Enniskillen.
Health Minister Simon Hamilton has talked about it in connection with the specialist trauma services at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
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Firefighters have been thanked for a "fantastic" job after a girl and two dogs were rescued from a house fire.
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Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to Horseshoe Crescent in Beaconsfield at about 11:00 GMT.
Crews used a ladder to rescue the girl from a first-floor bedroom window.
The girl, and a woman who was out of the house when they arrived, were treated for breathing in smoke, along with two dogs who were given oxygen by firefighters at the scene.
Station Commander Paul Casey, who attended the incident, said: "Very well done to all involved. I would like to say what a fantastic job both the crews and the Thames Valley Fire Control operators did of ensuring the effective rescue of the occupant trapped by smoke and fire on the first floor."
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A former police chief, who was second in charge during the Sarah Payne murder investigation, has been voted Dorset's first police and crime commissioner.
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Independent Martyn Underhill beat the Conservative's Nick King after second choice votes were counted as neither managed to get more than 50% of votes.
Mr Underhill got 51,930 votes - 60.1%, ahead of Mr King with 34,451 - 39.9%.
Labour's Rachel Rogers and Liberal Democrat Andy Canning were eliminated in the first round.
BBC Radio Solent's Tristan Pascoe, who was at the count, said the Tories left the building before the final result from the second count had been declared.
He said they had already stated that they would refuse to share the platform with Mr Underhill when final declaration took place citing "negative campaigning".
Tory candidate Nick King later told the BBC: "I wish Martin all the best.
"When it became clear he had won, I wanted to thank my team for their hard work in the face of a very negative campaign, so I took them to the pub so Martin could enjoy his victory in peace."
'It got bloody'
After winning Mr Underhill thanked the public for voting for him, but blamed the government for the low turnout.
Only 96,149 valid ballots were cast in Dorset, out of 588,436 registered voters - a 16.3% turnout.
"The blame lies with the government," he said.
"The government organised a bad campaign and educated the public badly."
He said it was a "fair point" that he may only have won the vote based on the fact the public did not want the election to be political.
"I won every single area which clearly displays people do not want politics involved," he said.
During his winner's speech, Mr Underhill said the race saw him going "head to head" with Mr King.
"It got bloody and we now we need to heal, because I am here to represent everyone in Dorset regardless of their party preference."
He said his "number one" priority was to hire a chief constable "with my vision".
"There's a lot to do in the first 100 days."
Mr Underhill moved to Dorset after retiring from Sussex Police in 2009 and went on to campaign on issues surrounding safeguarding children, including Sarah's Law which was introduced in Dorset in 2010.
He has vowed to make tackling anti-social behaviour, reducing marine and rural crime and putting victims first priorities.
Ms Rogers, the Labour candidate, said she was really pleased to come third.
"It is a significantly better result than I ever expected - a victory for the Labour Party in Dorset," she said.
But she also criticised the election, saying the government deciding not to fund a mailshot to households had "penalised voters".
"Uninformed voting is not democratic," she said.
"It wasn't a shock result but it may be a shock as to how much he won by," said Mr Canning of the appointment of Mr Underhill to the role.
"To be so decisively ahead across the whole of Dorset illustrates the depth of disillusionment with party politics."
The new PCCs, which replace police authorities, will set spending plans and have the power to "hire and fire" chief constables.
Mr Underhill will oversee policing in the county of more than 700,000 people and a budget which was set at £117m for 2012-13 - a reduction of about £3m compared to the 2011-12 figure of £120m. Further cuts are expected up until 2015.
Chief Constable of Dorset Police Debbie Simpson said: "On behalf of the force I would like to offer our warmest congratulations to Mr Underhill.
"I look forward to working with him when he takes office on 22 November, 2012."
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The Employment and Learning Minister Stephen Farry is to meet local residents in the mainly student Holyland area of south Belfast.
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Trouble broke out in the area in the early hours of Thursday morning and hundreds of students and young people celebrated St Patrick's Day in the area.
Residents said trouble happening in the area could not continue.
Mr Farry is expected to meet residents on Monday.
The minister said he was "appalled" by the behaviour of some young people.
"The department understands whilst some of these people will have been students at local institutions, the majority of people in the area yesterday were not university or college students," the department said in a statement.
"The minister and his officials are liaising with the universities and colleges and those responsible for community safety.
"A range of agencies including the universities and colleges have been collaborating in recent years to manage bad behaviour.
"Any further steps will now be considered in light of this year."
Ray Farley, the chairman of the Holyland Regeneration Association, said a "major rethink" was in order to deal with the issue.
"Whatever we've been doing last year, the year before, the year before that, doesn't work," he said.
"If we repeat the same thing again, it's not going to work next year."
A spokesperson for the office of the first minister and deputy first minister said: "We condemn the disorderly behaviour of some people in the Holylands area in recent days which has been very disruptive to local residents.
"It is not acceptable and we are prepared to work with everyone involved including the residents and all the respective organisations and agencies to prevent a similar situation happening again."
Eleven people were arrested after trouble in the area and mainly student Holyland area of south Belfast and the city centre on St Patrick's Day.
Police said the arrests were for public order offences including disorderly behaviour and assaulting police.
In the city centre, a paramedic needed hospital treatment after a man she was helping kicked her in the stomach.
But police said there was no repeat of what they described as "disgraceful" levels of violence on Thursday morning.
Three men aged 19, 20 and 21 have been charged over trouble in the early hours of Thursday morning.
There was little trouble in the area on Thursday night but police kept a heavy presence throughout the day.
Ch Supt Chris Noble said there had been "numerous reports of anti-social, nuisance behaviour" and "sporadic instances of scuffles and fights" in student areas and the city centre.
He added that "a significant police operation" had been in place "to help ensure the festivities passed off in a largely peaceful fashion".
John McPoland, of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), said paramedics were hindered by some instances of "reprehensible behaviour.
"One of our female paramedics ended up admitted to hospital this morning after having been kicked by a patient she was attending just after 10 o'clock last night," he said.
Bottles were thrown at ambulances, he added, and one was blocked from passing through the Holyland by people in the street.
SOS Bus Northern Ireland, a charity that offers help to people who have been drinking or injured themselves while drunk, was stationed close to the Holyland.
The charity's chief executive Joe Hyland said some people suffered "severely cut hands" after falling on broken glass.
Belfast's Queen's University and Ulster University issued a joint statement after Thursday morning's trouble.
"This societal problem is one which the universities and colleges commit significant time and resources to annually, both in educating, and if necessary, disciplining their students," they said.
"It was clear, however, that the majority of people in the area yesterday were not university or college students.
"The universities and colleges will continue to be robust in their disciplining of what is a minority of students who are engaging in this type of behaviour.
"Given the breadth of young people involved, we clearly need the full support and action of all stakeholders to effectively deal with this societal challenge going forward."
One officer was injured when bottles were thrown at police in Agincourt Avenue as a crowd of about 300 people gathered in the early hours of St Patrick's Day.
The disturbances lasted for more than two hours, ending at about 04:30 GMT.
Vehicles parked along the street were damaged during the trouble.
Police said 13 people were arrested in connection with the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Londonderry.
They were detained for a number of offences, including disorderly behaviour, indecent behaviour, common assault and resisting police.
Over 170 people attended the city's Atlnagelvin's emergency department on Thursday.
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Friends of a Berkshire woman who was killed by her estranged husband are campaigning for reform of the court system.
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Ascot guesthouse owner Joanna Brown was battered to death with a claw hammer and buried close to Windsor Great Park.
Her husband, BA pilot Robert Brown, pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but was cleared of murder by a jury.
He received a 26-year sentence, which he failed to have reduced on appeal on Thursday.
Mrs Brown's mother Diana Parkes and brother James Simpson have described Brown's acquittal on the murder charge as "a gross miscarriage of justice".
Ascot woman Hetti Nanton, who describes Joanna Brown as her "best friend" has begun a campaign called Justice for Jo, and hopes to put pressure on the government to reform the court system.
She believes the jury in Mrs Brown's case were unable to understand the expert testimony by psychologists.
It was claimed in court that Robert Brown was suffering from "adjustment disorder" brought on by stress over his divorce from Mrs Brown.
While Robert Brown was able to appeal against his manslaughter sentence, Mrs Brown's family and friends have no way of appealing against his acquittal for murder, unless new evidence comes to light.
Belinda Skudder, another close friend of Mrs Brown said she was starting an e-petition for the law to be changed.
She believes prosecutors should be able to appeal against acquittals where it is clear that expert evidence has not been properly interpreted by the jury.
"None of this can bring Jo back and I do not think one can ever have "closure" on something so awful, but we would feel a lot better if we felt justice had been achieved in the first place," she said.
"I personally feel that he is a vicious psychopath who shows no remorse."
Mrs Nanton said it was "horrific" that there was "nothing" Mrs Brown's family and friends could do about the jury's verdict.
She said she believed the jury had been swayed by Mr Brown's charm and his high status job as a BA pilot.
She said police in court were "in tears" on hearing Mr Brown had been cleared of the murder charge.
Mrs Nanton said she had moved house in order to be nearer friends due to the stress of the killing and subsequent trial.
She said: "Jo was my best friend. We met when both of our youngest children were in nursery together.
"After she tried to divorce Robert she was constantly being subjected to a lot of abuse.
"He threatened her with a knife, he used to drive slowly past her house. It was intimidation on a scale you can't comprehend."
Mrs Nanton said Mrs Brown had been killed just one week before her divorce hearing.
"I spoke to her one hour before she died," she said.
"When I heard what had happened to her, I just screamed. We were so nearly there. He has destroyed so many lives."
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A care home manager who stole over £90,000 from a vulnerable resident and used it to gamble and pay off loans has been struck off.
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Carleen Wilkins, of Overdale Road, Quinton, was jailed for 31 months after admitting theft at Birmingham Crown Court in October.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said her actions "breached fundamental tenets of the nursing profession".
A total of £98,730 was stolen from the 97-year-old resident over 40 months.
Wilkins, 40, qualified as a nurse in 2005 and became manager at the care home in Handsworth Wood in 2011.
The victim lived at the home from the summer of 2012 until February 2016, during which time Wilkins had full control of her accounts and withdrew hundreds of pounds each day.
She formed a close bond with the victim, who allowed Wilkins to control her finances due to a "mistrust of her immediate family and banks," the NMC report said.
Wilkins later admitted withdrawing the money but denied any wrongdoing, claiming the victim did not trust the bank and had spent the money on sherry.
Reaching the decision to strike Wilkins off, the NMC described her behaviour as "premeditated" and "systematic actions of fraud".
"Ms Wilkins' conduct and behaviour clearly fall far below the standards expected of a registered nurse," the report said, adding her actions "seriously undermine public confidence in the [nursing] profession".
"Her dishonesty was at the top end of the spectrum of dishonesty," the panel decided.
Related Internet Links
The Nursing & Midwifery Council
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An NHS watchdog has issued advice about sexting to help professionals spot the difference between "normal" sexual experimentation and harmful sexual behaviour among children and teens.
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Sexting (sending explicit messages or images via text) is a worry and must be monitored, says the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
It says not enough is known about the impact on young minds.
Teachers, doctors and social workers must judge appropriateness for age.
Inappropriate sexualised behaviour, which can include sexting, is often an expression of problems or underlying vulnerabilities, says NICE.
Sexting
The guidelines suggest professionals use resources such as the Brook Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool to help gauge the severity of the behaviour - actions listed as red indicate likely harm, while those in green are viewed as part of normal growing up.
Sexting is given an amber traffic light, as is messaging sexual images of a person, even if they have given their consent.
Amber warning signs among much younger children include the use of sexual themes in language and play.
Dr Abdullah Kraam, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, helped write the NICE guidelines.
He said the guidance was timely given the growth in online grooming and pornography.
"The advice is useful. It gives people some idea as to whether a child's behaviour is concerning or not.
"Some things will be obvious, but other behaviours may be harder to judge. There are grey areas."
If in doubt, he says it is best to "refer it up to the experts".
Jon Brown, of the child protection charity the NSPCC, said it was important not to label children as mini sex offenders: "Steps to change behaviour will only be effective if the family and support network understand there is an issue and are supportive."
Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive of NICE, said: "Inquisitive behaviour is a normal part of growing up and it is natural for children to ask about different body parts or be curious about the differences between girls and boys.
"However there is also a minority of children and young people who engage in sexual behaviour that is not appropriate for their age or development.
"This guidance is about preparing teachers, nurses, social workers and others to recognise harmful sexual behaviour when it occurs and ensure they can work across team boundaries, so that problem behaviour is not ignored or missed and children and young people receive the help they need."
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Scenes for new superhero movie, Avengers: Infinity War, are to be shot in Scotland, according to newspaper reports.
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The Sunday Mail and Daily Record said locations in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Highlands are to be used in filming due to start next month.
Infinity War is part of the Marvel "universe" of superhero stories.
Scenes for Marvel's 2011 movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, were shot in Culross in Fife.
Rival comic publisher and film-maker, DC Comics, has also used Scotland for one of its superhero movies.
Scenes for 2012's Batman film The Dark Knight Rises were shot over the Cairngorms.
The action involved a C130 transport plane that was based at Inverness Airport for several weeks.
Stuntmen and a film crew also made parachute jumps over Cairngorm Gliding Club's airstrip at Feshie Bridge for the scenes.
The fuselage of a Jetstream aircraft that had belonged to Inverness-based airline Highland Airways plane was used to portray the interior of the CIA aircraft in the movie.
Infinity War is expected to bring together a huge cast of Marvel heroes and villains, and the actors who play them.
Reportedly they include Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Chris Evans' Captain America, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange and Inverness-born Karen Gillan's Nebula, a character from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy comics and movies.
Disney has so far not commented on the reports Scottish locations are to be used for the film, which is to be released next year.
National arts development agency, Creative Scotland, said it could not give a comment at this time.
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More than 20 industrial companies have urged the UK government to go ahead with the planned £1.3bn Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.
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They said it could be crucial to meeting the UK's energy needs, in a letter to the Financial Times.
The Hendry Review - set up to consider the lagoon plan's viability - is to be published on Thursday.
The firms said the project was one of the "biggest industrial opportunities in a generation".
The co-signatories - including Sheffield Forgemasters, the steel and engineering company, and the British arm of General Electric - employ more than 42,000 workers at more than 250 UK sites.
They said: "We have at our fingertips a brand new sector that will create a multibillion-pound industry, provide tens of thousands of jobs across the country and create a significant local supply chain. All of this before we even think about the massive potential as a British export technology."
Those behind the new manufacturing and energy sector believe it can deliver sustainable, locally-produced electricity for about a hundred years.
There is cautious optimism that the Hendry Review, which is looking into the economic viability of the scheme, will give a thumbs up.
However, questions have been raised over the project, both in terms of its scale and its related electricity strike price - the government subsidy required for the power generated.
Tidal Lagoon Power, the company behind the plan, has said it is "confident" it could hit a "viable" electricity strike price, having also dismissed engineering and environmental impact concerns.
The project received planning consent in June 2015 from the then energy secretary Amber Rudd before the UK government commissioned former energy minister Charles Hendry to scrutinise whether it was a "cost-effective" solution.
Analysis from BBC Wales economics correspondent Sarah Dickins
The Swansea tidal lagoon project has been described as heralding a new industrial era. That may be over-egged but, if Swansea gets the go-ahead and if more lagoons follow, it could be that some of the parts for those lagoons would still be made in Wales. Certainly for Cardiff and Newport.
The company Tidal Lagoon Power is very ambitious. It is already talking about developing the technology in Gujarat in India. The challenge for Wales would be to develop an expertise which could benefit from similar projects internationally.
But we also need to remember that we will not know for sure until Thursday what the Hendry Report actually says and what the UK government response will be.
There are a number of variables. Even if it's a green light for the Swansea lagoon, the project still has to get a Marine Licence from the Welsh Government. That would not be automatic as there is significant opposition from environmental groups and anglers who fear the effects the Swansea lagoon might have, in particular, on fish breeding grounds.
Firms hoping to be part of the project's complex supply chain will have a much better idea of whether the UK is going to embrace this new source of energy generation on Thursday, but there may well be questions about the detail.
The Hendry Review was originally expected to be published last year but will now be released on Thursday.
However, those supporting the lagoon scheme believe it could generate enough clean energy from the ebb and flow of the tide to satisfy 11% of electricity consumption in Wales.
The wider plan is for the lagoon in Swansea Bay to be a prototype and the smallest in a series.
If approved, it would be followed by lagoons in Cardiff - east of where Cardiff Bay is now - Newport, Bridgwater Bay, Colwyn Bay and west Cumbria, north of Workington.
In their letter to ministers, the firms said the UK must have the confidence to embrace its "first-mover advantage" in a project which would boost the economy and employment.
"The world-first Swansea Bay tidal lagoon would use unproven, yet cutting-edge technology to provide a pathfinder for a fleet of larger projects which, if approved, could power up to a third of UK homes for the next five generations. It will catalyse a new British engineering and construction industry," they said.
Pembroke Dock-based engineering firm Ledwood and Goodwin Steel Castings, of Stoke-on-Trent, were also among the list of signatory companies.
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Around the world - from South America to West Africa - previously happy couples are splitting up and many are divorcing. The stress of the pandemic has been blamed by some, while others say it has highlighted old problems.
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By Emma AilesBBC World Service
"I found out during lockdown that my husband has a girlfriend." Reni* whispers down the phone from her home in Nigeria. Her family are chatting loudly in the next room, plates clinking as they prepare dinner.
"I confronted him about her," she says, "and all he said was: 'How did you get into my phone?' It was a big blow out. I think he wants a divorce. He doesn't know I'm speaking to you now, that's why I can't show my real face."
Cooped up together in homes all over the world, many of us have felt the strain on our relationships. Juggling childcare, chores and work, worrying about health, finances and the state of the world, the global Covid-19 crisis has left many of us also navigating a domestic crisis of our own behind closed doors.
For some, like Reni, the close confinement of lockdown has also meant discovering secrets - and having to deal with the fallout.
The pandemic spared nothing
The number of couples seeking relationship counselling has surged during lockdown.
"Usually most of my clients are individuals," says Dr Rebecca Pender Baum, president of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors. "Since the start of lockdown there's been a noticeable shift, the majority of enquiries have been from couples."
Dr Marni Feuerman, a psychotherapist in Florida, says after an initial dip in the first few weeks of lockdown, she too saw a flood of requests from couples.
"The biggest thing I hear is about couples arguing about the new division of labour in the house," she says. "People trying to work and also take care of children - everything has been thrown into chaos."
This was true for Richard Cunha Schmidt, 41, and Rafaela Carolina Ferreira Schmidt, 31, who live in Florianopolis, in southern Brazil. They divorced last month, saying lockdown was the catalyst.
"For the most part, it was 12 beautiful years together," says social worker Rafaela. "But the pandemic spared nothing. It came to expose that in a 24-hour relationship with two children, and one home office…a lot of things were not matching anymore."
"There were those moments of anger and disagreement, of using the situation against each other. I felt that," she adds. "The issues of wearing masks, coming back to the house, taking clothes off and taking a shower, I took it all very seriously. His view was different. I think it's funny now, but we were really furious at the time."
"We started to fight about things. Futile, unimportant things," adds project manager Richard. "Lockdown was very strict, we couldn't leave the house, not even to get some air. And I think at first I didn't accept all this rigour."
A collective trauma
A survey by the UK charity Relate in April found that nearly a quarter of people felt lockdown had placed additional pressure on their relationship. A similar proportion had found their partner more irritating - with women reporting so more than men.
Lockdown created a "make or break" environment, the charity says, with people having "relationship realisations" - both good and bad. A further survey by the charity in July found 8% of people said lockdown had made them realise they needed to end their relationship - but 43% said lockdown had brought them closer.
Dr Feuerman says in many cases lockdown magnified the existing dynamic in a relationship. She has been counselling couples over zoom - sometimes from their garden shed or a parked car to gain some privacy from the family home.
"The pandemic has caused stress for everybody. There's a collective trauma," she says. "But couples that were strong beforehand are even stronger. They already knew how to use their relationship as a resource at a time of stress. The couples who have been worst affected are those where there were problems before this started."
For Reni, lockdown lifted the veil on the truth about her marriage. She says she would normally have been too busy to notice her husband's cold and unusual behaviour, which led her to check his phone.
But despite the discovery of his infidelity, divorce is simply not an option. "I would call my parents and cry. But my parents are Christians, they don't believe in divorce or separation. They told me stay there no matter what your husband does.
"Do I love him? I'm not sure anymore. I'm just hoping he doesn't speak to her anymore. But I'm glad I found out, it gave me peace of mind that his harsh behaviour was not my fault."
Anecdotally, divorce lawyers in the UK and US have reported that enquiries are up significantly. One Washington DC law firm recorded a 70% increase in calls in October compared to October 2019.
Lockdown relationship tips
Kate Moyle, psychotherapist at the UK Council for Psychotherapy, says:
Early figures in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Chinese cities of Xi'an and Dazhou also suggest a rise in official divorce applications. However, University of Virginia sociology professor Brad Wilcox warns against jumping to conclusions about a universal spike.
"Data that we have from four out of five states reporting divorce in real time - Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Rhode Island and Oregon - indicate that divorce has fallen," he says. "No doubt, some of this decline can be attributed to the fact that some couples had difficulty getting divorces amidst the lockdowns."
But based on the trends seen in previous times of turmoil, like the global recession ten years ago, Professor Wilcox anticipates that many people will be hesitant about making permanent life changes while other aspects of their life are unstable.
"My perspective is that we'll see a decline in divorce this year in 2020, and probably a slight uptick in divorce in 2021 as things return to more normalcy."
For those who have split, the pandemic presents a further challenge - how to survive heartbreak in a lockdown. In Melbourne, Australia, musician Kieron Byatt sits in the room he shared, until recently, with his girlfriend of nine years. Confined to the house as winter drew in, and without the distractions of normal life, he says they stumbled into a "routine funk".
"It just went down really fast. I think lockdown fast-tracked the expiry date. We went from talking about buying a house together at the start of the year to… she was gone, and I just felt so alone."
Kieron threw himself into a strict routine of work and exercise but the pain of the separation - on top of Melbourne's strict 112-day lockdown - took a mental toll.
"When the breakup happened, Melbourne was opening back up again, and then we got the word we were going back into lockdown. So it was just like all of these incremental steps of like 'how much worse could it get? I got to a point where I got really down, and I just cried my eyes out."
In Brazil, Richard and Rafaela have managed to navigate the end of their marriage amicably and remain friends. Rafaela has moved to a place nearby. They still see each other every day, sharing the care of their two girls.
"Lockdown made us face the problems with courage and resignation and not run away," says Richard. Rafaela nods. "Separating wasn't what I wanted," she adds. "But I didn't see any other alternative. I think we are two very nice people. I think we both deserve to be happy."
Kieron too says he is weathering the present with hope of a brighter future. "Each day is getting better. But then you still have those days that are awful. And you know what, it's very similar to this whole Covid-19 situation," he says.
"There are days where the case numbers are coming down, and then one day they're all back up again. And you've got to maintain the hope that things will be ok."
Additional reporting by Gabriela Silva Loureiro
*Some of the names in this piece have been changed.
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Perched on top of a remote, wind-swept hill in rural mid-Wales sits a series of structures designed to protect us against "one of the most significant risks to human civilisation".
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By Caleb SpencerBBC News
The Spaceguard Centre, near Knighton, in Powys, is a working observatory which tracks "near-Earth objects" - comets and asteroids which could hit Earth.
Its director, Jay Tate, established the centre in 1997 after he became concerned at a lack of co-ordination in the UK and internationally to counter the threat.
Mr Tate said technology exists to be able to "nudge" comets and asteroids away from Earth if they are detected early enough.
The problem, for Mr Tate, is that not enough people take the threat seriously - to the average citizen and even those in power, it is a distant threat.
'Clear and present danger'
A former officer in the British Army, where he specialised in missile systems, Mr Tate does not romanticise his work.
"This isn't really science. This is defence," he said.
"It's surveillance rather than science, and surveillance is a military function."
He became alarmed at the threat posed to humanity in 1994, when he watched through a telescope as a comet hit Jupiter.
"It seemed crystal clear to me that it was a clear and present danger, and that there would be systems in place. And there weren't."
After years of trying to push the issue up the agenda in military circles and in Whitehall, Mr Tate said he was told to "go away and shut up".
When, not if
He did not do as he was told - something he recalls with relish - and instead went about setting up the Spaceguard Centre, also known as the National Near Earth Objects Information Centre.
Now closed to tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic, the centre sits in a dark sky area about 1km (0.6 miles) from the English border.
Reachable only by driving along a farmer's track through a field full of sheep, it is an unlikely setting for such important work.
Unlike natural hazards like volcanoes and earthquakes, which are unpredictable, Mr Tate said comets and asteroids are "totally predictable".
"When, not if it happens, the effects could be catastrophic."
'Mass extinction'
Mr Tate said it would only take an asteroid the size of a cricket pitch to take out a city the size of London.
In 2013, he said the Russian city of Chelyabinsk avoided being "completely flattened, probably by a matter of four seconds" when a meteor broke up as people looked on in shock.
"If you go up in size to something like 500m across, that would take out a reasonable-sized country," he explained.
"If you go up to something a kilometre across, the effects would be global. Not a mass extinction, but civilisation as we know it would cease to exist.
"If you go up to 10km, you are talking about a mass extinction on a very large scale."
'We can fix this'
But it is not all doom and gloom. Mr Tate said the technology exists to detect, track and even divert these objects away from earth.
"This is a problem we can fix, it's avoidable," he explained.
"The point is it's very, very rare for your house to burn down, but you still take out insurance."
Each day, the Minor Planet Centre (MPC) in the USA publishes a list of objects it would like to be monitored.
The Spaceguard Centre, like thousands of other observatories and amateur astronomers around the world, picks an object it is able to observe from the list.
It finds the area of space where the object should be located and takes three photographs.
Computers then analyse the photographs to find an object which is moving relative to the stars.
Calculations made by the computer can determine the object's orbit around the sun, which is sent back to the MPC.
There are a few ways of deflecting a comet or asteroid, Mr Tate explained, but all rely on the ability to find the object heading for Earth "years or decades" in advance.
That is because "you only have to deflect it a tiny amount to make it a near-miss".
Simpler methods involve hitting it with something, but Mr Tate said, while another option could be to detonate a nuclear bomb on its surface.
'Danger close'
When the meteor broke up above Chelyabinsk in 2013, "nobody saw it coming", Mr Tate said.
It was, in part, due to its small size (about 20m across), but also because observatories, including the Spaceguard Centre, had their telescopes trained elsewhere.
The other object was big enough to take out a "reasonable-sized continent", Mr Tate explained, and had passed between Earth and the moon - considered "danger close" in the business.
At the moment, Mr Tate said the centre is limited to simply tracking rather than finding objects - but this could soon change.
In 2009, Cambridge University offered the centre one of its telescopes which was being decommissioned.
Mr Tate had nowhere to put the 7.5-tonne telescope, but thanks to a band of volunteers, it is now housed inside a custom-built dome.
Coronavirus has put a stop to vital work on the project, named Drax, so it could be years before it is ready.
Hearts and minds
But Mr Tate acknowledges his most important work might not be in the actual pursuit of comets and asteroids.
"One of our jobs is to persuade everyone else that this is important," he concluded.
"This hopefully won't happen in our lifetime, in the next century, in the next millennium. I don't know. If I did know, I would be happy.
"Point is it will happen, and when it does happen, life turns to pain in a very big way."
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Thousands of people have taken part in a demonstration against plans to end children's heart surgery in Leeds.
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A review concluded Leeds General Infirmary should stop surgery so care could be concentrated at fewer sites.
Parents, children, hospital staff and politicians took part in a march through the city centre, starting and ending at Millennium Square.
The action comes the day before Yorkshire's health watchdog meets to consider its response to the decision.
The official review ruled that units at Leeds, Leicester's Glenfield Hospital and London's Royal Brompton should stop surgery after concluding expertise was spread too thinly across the health service.
If surgery ends in Leeds, families from Yorkshire and the Humber region will instead have to travel to Newcastle or Liverpool.
'Not right'
Sharon Cheng, director of the Children's Heart Surgery Fund, said about 3,000 people had taken part in the demonstration.
She said: "I'm overwhelmed - the strength of the turnout and the families and the patients. We've had people join us who are not connected to the unit, which speaks volumes."
Ms Cheng said they had been campaigning for the unit for 18 months and 600,000 people had signed a petition opposing the removal of children's heart surgery from the hospital.
"We understand why larger, fewer centres would make sense but you have to put them where the population is," she said.
"This centre is keeping these people safe. That's the bottom line here."
Steph Ward, from Leeds, whose son Lyall was treated at the Leeds unit, said: "The point of this march is to show the decision-makers that actually we don't accept it, we don't accept the decision.
"It's not right for the people of Yorkshire, it's not right for kids like my son, and we haven't given up and we will fight this all the way."
MPs Stuart Andrew, Hilary Benn, Greg Mulholland and Ed Balls were among those taking part in the march.
'Huge loyalty'
Mr Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, said the turnout for the demonstration was "amazing".
He added: "This is a terrible decision and needs to be reversed."
Sir Roger Boyle, the former national clinical director for heart disease and stroke, was one of the experts advising the review.
He said: "I recognise that people have shown a huge loyalty for the hospital in Leeds but pooling surgical expertise means the clinical community can work together, develop new techniques and deliver improved care to keep more children with complex heart conditions alive.
"The NHS was right to make a decision to expand services and improve the quality of care for children with complex heart conditions by pooling surgical expertise in fewer larger centres. The decision will improve clinical outcomes and save more children's lives in the future."
Sir Roger added that Leeds General Infirmary would continue to play a vital role providing cardiology services to children.
The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which represents 15 local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber region, will hear from patients, parents, surgeons and Sir Neil McKay, chairman of the panel which made the decision.
At the end of Tuesday's public meeting the committee could choose to refer the matter to the secretary of state for health, who would then make a final decision.
Councillor John Illingworth, chairman of the committee, said: "This a hugely important decision which needs to be discussed fully, so I would encourage as many people as possible to attend this public meeting to help ensure that local feelings are expressed and understood."
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Assurances are being sought that the public will not be put at risk by a shake-up of the probation service.
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North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Winston Roddick QC made his comments as the UK government wants to move supervising low risk offenders into the private sector.
Under the plans security firms and voluntary groups could manage probation on a "payment by results" basis.
Mr Roddick said the job skills needed could not be bought off the shelf.
The former senior legal adviser to the Welsh assembly explained that judges consider probation reports before sentencing a convicted criminal on the likelihood that they could reoffend and the risk they pose to the public.
As a barrister and former court recorder he said he vouched for the quality of the current probation service and the experience of its staff.
The National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) has also voiced its concerns, saying up to 750 jobs could be put at risk in Wales.
Mr Roddick told BBC Radio Wales: "If you are supervising somebody who is a bit problem and the threat of reoffending is higher than low then you do really need someone of experience.
"I'm hoping that the Ministry of Justice will answer these concerns namely, can those who have the care of the offender on probation reassure the public that the risk of reoffending and harm to the public be minimised and well managed?"
Most released prisoners and people serving community sentences are currently managed by the public sector probation service - provided by 35 probation trusts across England and Wales.
'Madness'
But under the Ministry of Justice's proposals - which are subject to a six-week consultation period - responsibility for monitoring some 200,000 medium and low risk offenders will be transferred from 35 local trusts to the private sector.
Private companies and charitable bodies successfully bidding for probation contracts will be paid according to the results they achieve in cutting re-offending.
However, the public probation service will continue to supervise some 50,000 high-risk offenders, including all serious violent and sexual offenders.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "What we do at the moment is send people out of prison with £46 in their pocket, and no support at all.
"No wonder we have such high levels of reoffending. It is madness to carry on with the same old system and hope for a different result."
Under the proposals, a nationwide Justice Data Lab will also be established to help rehabilitation organisations access data on reoffending.
And the government will offer £500,000 to voluntary and community sector groups to help them as they prepare to bid for probation contracts.
In 2011, a record number of offenders sentenced for serious crimes were found to have committed previous offences, according to government figures.
The final changes to the probation service are expected to be set out later this year and implemented by the spring of 2015.
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Shell UK is to be prosecuted in connection with an explosion and fire at a Norfolk gas terminal in 2008.
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The Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive are bringing a joint prosecution against the energy giant.
Shell UK will face charges over breaches of environmental and health and safety legislation at Norwich Magistrates' Court on 20 January 2011.
It follows an explosion and fire at the Bacton Gas Terminal in February 2008.
The fire broke out in a water treatment plant at the Shell UK base in Paston Road and there was an explosion.
There were no casualties.
Norfolk Fire Service said 10 crews dealt with what they described as "a major incident".
The terminal, operated by several energy companies, houses gas processing plants and the Interconnector system feeding gas between Britain and Europe.
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Council workers in Flintshire have been left in a flap after a series of close encounters with bats.
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Wildlife experts have found at least 13 roosts in parts of County Hall in Mold being vacated ahead of demolition.
Figures reveal about 26 bats have been discovered, including one pipistrelle which got stuck on flypaper and had to have glue washed off.
Council bosses said measures would be taken to protect the bats before any demolition takes place.
The revelations have come in response to a Freedom of Information request, and follow the move of hundreds of staff to new offices at St David's Park, Ewloe.
Flintshire County Council revealed details of a string of incidents involving bats since 2010.
The most frequently infiltrated part of the 1960s civic complex was the sixth floor, where 20 bats were located.
One bat was seen in the main reception area and another in a car park stairwell at nearby Theatr Clwyd.
Some of the bats were returned to the wild after being caught by trained officers, while others left of their own accord.
Wildlife consultant Stuart Spray said while at least 13 roosts were found, there could be as many as 100 other possible locations they could settle.
"It was clear from the ground that there were several gaps around the windows that may have had potential for roosting bats," he said.
"As a result the building complex was assessed being of high potential for roosting bats in the summer and for hibernating bats in the winter."
Mr Spray has recommended only a soft demolition of the offices, and that bat roosts be put up on the remaining buildings as an alternative home for the creatures.
Neal Cockerton, Flintshire's chief officer in charge of property, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the council was "fully aware of all the measures that need to be in place to mitigate any impacts on bats".
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The police chief in Sri Lanka has pledged not to bow down to pressure from the authorities to release a suspect on abduction of Tamil civilians.
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Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chandra Fernando, has told Civil Action Committee that he would conduct a thorough investigation on the matter.
Kotahena police have arrested a suspect on Saturday night when he arrived with a group of armed men to collect a ransom from a businessman from Kochchikade.
Suspect Pubalapillai Kandarajah was arrested but another fled the scene, the Committee said.
Arrested before
Leader of the New Left Front, Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne, told BBC Sandeshaya that they have “reliable information” that the leading government figures are putting pressure on the police to release the suspect.
“We were informed that the same suspect was arrested some time ago but released without a charge by the police,” he said.
Colombo district parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan earlier told bbcsinhala.com that nearly 50 Tamils were abducted in the capital, within weeks.
26 missing
Some were released after paying huge ransoms, but nearly 26 people are still missing, he said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week promised Civil Action Committee that he would invite a team from Amnesty International to investigate the matter.
The NLF leader said it is “very clear” that the suspect is a leader of “government-backed” Tamil militant group.
“Some police officers alleged that abductions are carried out by the Karuna faction. However, it is clear the group is linked to the government,” he told bbcsinhala.com.
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EasyJet's new chief executive, Johan Lundgren, has kicked off his reign with a strong set of trading figures.
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The airline reported a 14.4% jump in revenues to £1.1bn for the three months to 31 December.
Passenger numbers rose by 8% to 18.8 million in the same period. The upbeat numbers sent EasyJet shares 5% higher.
Mr Lundgren, appointed in November, also announced management changes, including the departure of chief commercial officer Peter Duffy.
The airline looks to have benefited from a re-shaping of the industry last year, helping to support fares and keep flights full.
Last year, Monarch airline collapsed, Ryanair cancelled flights due to a pilot shortage, and Air Berlin and Alitalia went into administration.
"Clearly there has been less competitive pressure on certain routes," Mr Lundgren told reporters.
Analysis: Victoria Fritz, BBC transport correspondent
It's a case of survival of the fittest in the airline industry at the moment. Attractive leasing arrangements with low interest rates mean that there are more new planes in circulation. Lower fuel prices mean older planes are now more economical to run.
Yet in order to fill all these planes, airlines have had to cut fares. Some haven't been able to make the numbers stack up. Monarch Airlines, Air Berlin and Alitalia all went bust last year.
Those bankruptcies have fuelled growth at EasyJet by taking some of that excess capacity out of the market. A stronger pound has also helped lift the numbers at EasyJet. Roughly half of sales come from the UK.
Management reshuffle
The departure of Mr Duffy - a contender for the chief executive's job after the incumbent Carolyn McCall moved to ITV - follows Mr Lundgren's decision to move responsibility for pricing and revenue management from the commercial department to the airline's strategy and network director, Robert Carey.
A new role of chief data officer has been created, with responsibility for coordinating the airline's management of data to improve the customer experience, drive revenue, reduce costs and improve operational reliability.
Mr Lundgren said in a statement that EasyJet would "continue to focus on cost" after generating approximately £28m of savings in the quarter.
"Our customer proposition will continue to drive both passenger growth and loyalty.
"We have great revenue growth, strong cost control, a robust operation and a strong balance sheet."
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Two early examples of rare ladies loos have been given Grade II listed status.
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The Bank Hill toilet in Berwick opened in 1899 while the loos on the seafront at Seaburn in Sunderland date from between 1901 and 1904.
Public toilets were introduced in the second half of the 19th Century but the vast majority were for men only.
Historic England said the first ladies loo opened in Oxford Circus in 1884 but women's public toilets were "relatively uncommon" until after World War One.
Veronica Fiorato from Historic England said: "Many people often think of listed buildings only as churches, castles and grand stately homes but buildings like toilets are also an important part of our nation's rich history.
"The lavatories in Berwick and Seaburn reflect the emerging changing social status of women at the beginning of the 20th Century.
"The appearance of toilets like these represented the gradual opening up of a world of new leisure and work opportunities previously unavailable to women."
Historic England said there were various reasons why women were not given public toilets.
In the Victorian era ladies were deemed too modest to "answer the call of nature" away from home, while another theory suggests it was a "cynical ploy" to control women's movements and ambitions becoming known as the "urinary leash".
On its first day, the Bank Hill toilet attracted 62 customers.
It remained as a toilet until the 1950s, after which it was used for council storage and later an ice cream parlour called Loovre.
The Seaburn toilets closed in the 1960s but reopened in 2018.
Other North East toilets to have been listed include Roman loos at Housesteads Fort on Hadrian's Wall and a "defensible latrine" pillbox at Seaton Sluice on the Northumberland coast.
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Sir Paul McCartney has been given France's highest award, the Legion of Honour, for services to music.
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The former Beatle was decorated by President Francois Hollande during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
As an officer of the Legion of Honour, Sir Paul joins such cultural icons as actor Clint Eastwood and singers Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli.
In his native Britain, he was knighted by the Queen in 1997 - earning the title Sir.
Sir Paul said afterwards: "It is such an honour to be awarded this."
He recently performed to a global audience at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Legion of Honour was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and comes in five grades - Knight, Officer, Commander, Grand Officer and Grand Cross.
Sir Paul, 70, has enjoyed a long and successful music career after rising to fame with The Beatles.
He and bandmate John Lennon penned such hits as Yesterday, Hey Jude and A Hard Day's Night, before the Beatles split up in 1970. McCartney went on to forge a solo career.
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Road traffic could be allowed to travel along railway tracks to avoid an area where landslides have closed a road for more than two weeks.
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Highland Council said it was an option being considered for the section of A890 Lochcarron to Kyle road.
In October 1990, traffic was allowed onto the nearby railway line after rockfalls in the same area.
The method uses railway sleepers and would end the need for motorists to make a 140 mile (225km) diversion.
Network Rail said it was looking at the possibility of allowing traffic onto the line again.
Ferry plan
A spokesman said: "We are reviewing the feasibility of allowing road vehicles to use a short section of railway as a diversionary route.
"There are number of factors to be considered and we will need to be sure that the proposal poses no risk to safety or damage to the railway before a decision can be made."
Highland Council said it was also hoping to hire two ferries to help ease travel in the area.
The local authority has proposed bringing in a 61-passenger ferry to operate between North Strome, near Lochcarron, and Plockton from the middle of next week.
Before its introduction the slipways to be used will be checked and floodlighting will be installed.
A six-car ferry could also operate between North and South Strome.
The council said travel would be restricted to vehicles under 10-tonnes and priority would be given to emergency vehicles and local traffic.
The section of A890 in Wester Ross has been shut since 22 December.
More than 100 tonnes of rock came down on the Lochcarron to Kyle road at Stromeferry.
There was a further landslide a few days later.
The B9176 Struie road at Newbridge in Easter Ross has also been closed by a landslide since Tuesday.
Highland Council said that section of road would remain shut over the weekend.
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Yemen's Houthi rebels have dropped a threat to tax international assistance sent to the war-torn country.
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The rebel group, which has controlled the capital Sanaa and much of Yemen since 2014, had said they would impose a 2% levy on humanitarian aid.
However, in a letter seen by AFP and confirmed by the Houthis on Friday, the group agreed to drop the demand.
Yemen is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the country's population dependent on aid.
The letter, sent by the head of the Houthi aid body SCMCHA and addressed to UN official Mark Lowcock, said the decision had been taken to suspend the tax "and not apply it for this year 2020".
A UN official in Sanaa also confirmed the decision.
The news came a day after a meeting of aid agencies and major donors in Brussels on Thursday said the situation in Yemen had "reached a breaking point".
They warned that aid distribution could be scaled down or interrupted in areas where "principled delivery", or neutral operations, were no longer possible.
The meeting said that while both sides were responsible for issues faced by humanitarian and UN agencies operating in Yemen, the Houthi's proposed tax had triggered the latest crisis, according to AFP.
A strongly word summary of the talks in Brussels, obtained by the BBC, did not name the Houthi movement, but said that the operating environment had rapidly deteriorated across the country and in the north - which is under rebel control - in particular.
The statement said the work of humanitarian agencies had been impeded by delays, permits being refused and threats to staff.
The BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, says the Houthi authorities have made it clear they want greater control over what is the largest aid operation in the world, with one aid official who attended Thursday's meeting commenting that the statement was in effect an ultimatum to the Houthi authorities.
Yemen has been gripped by civil war since 2014, when the Houthi movement seized large areas of territory across the country, forcing President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and seven other Arab states - who were alarmed by the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by Iran - launched a military campaign in March 2015, aiming to restore Mr Hadi's government.
The Houthi rebels have been accused of obstructing aid deliveries and distribution in Yemen, which was already the Arab world's poorest country before the conflict broke out, while the Saudi-led coalition maintains a partial blockade on the country.
The UN had verified the deaths of at least 7,500 civilians by September 2019, with most caused by coalition air strikes. A monitor group has estimated the fighting has killed 100,000 people, including 12,000 civilians.
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Five thousands jobs could be created under plans to revitalise Tottenham in the wake of last year's riots.
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Parts of the area were destroyed last August when rioting broke out after the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan.
Haringey Council's plan also involves building 10,000 new homes by 2025.
The council said along with the Mayor of London, £41m has been invested initially while the Tottenham Hotspur development was worth £430m.
The plan is the council's vision for the area until 2025.
The regeneration will focus on:
Work has recently started on Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's development plan, which will see a new stadium built and parts of the surrounding area regenerated.
Council leader Claire Kober said: "This is a huge plan not just about how do we fix Tottenham, but how do we build back better, how do we provide a Tottenham moving forward that's better than Tottenham today."
She added the council had already secured planning permission to restore many of the buildings destroyed in the riots.
"A lot of building work has started but we want to attract more high street names to Tottenham; we want to provide more and better housing for people and we want to ensure people have access to really good leisure opportunities."
'Too many chain stores'
But Moaz Nanjuwany, chairman of the Tottenham Traders Partnership who also runs an opticians, said to kick start the local economy, the council should help independent shop owners rather than chain stores.
"What's important is that if we involve communities, then young people will have an identity to the area. If we have too many chain stores and big companies, then there is no identity and nobody has a sense of belonging.
"It would cause an alienation which brings a disharmony, discord and discomfort here."
One local resident disagreed, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "local community shops were really expensive".
He said he welcomed big businesses such as supermarkets because it would bring down prices and provide jobs.
The riot in Tottenham started after Mark Duggan was shot dead by the police.
It then spread to other parts of London and across England.
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The state pension age will now rise to 66 by 2020 for both men and women, the Chancellor, George Osborne, has said.
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The plan brings forward by six years the plan that the previous Labour government had put in place.
Mr Osborne told MPs that the increase from 65 to 66 would be phased in from 2018.
Meanwhile, workers in the public sector are set to have to pay higher contributions to their own pension schemes.
The government is planning changes to the big public sector pension schemes that will save it £1.8bn a year by 2014-15,
State pension
Pushing up the state pension age to 66 in 2020 will accelerate the existing plan, under which women's pension age would, by that date, have been equalised with men at age 65.
Equalisation will now be achieved by November 2018.
Mr Osborne said the new policy would eventually save the government £5bn a year by the end of the next parliament.
"Raising the state pension age is what many countries are now doing, and will by the end of the next parliament save over £5bn a year - money which will be used to provide a more generous basic state pension as we manage demographic pressures," Mr Osborne said.
In 2007, the Labour government followed the recommendations of Lord Turner's Pensions Commission.
It decided that the state pension age should rise: to 66 by 2026, to 67 by 2036 and to 68 by 2046.
During the summer, the new coalition government held a public consultation on bringing forward the first element of this plan because of the widespread evidence that people are continuing to live longer.
The government said at the time that leaving the state pension age at 65 "was not an option" and raising it would contribute to making the state pension more affordable as pensioners spent longer in retirement.
The timescale for raising the pension age to 67 and 68 is now also likely to be accelerated, the government said.
Public sector pensions
The chancellor said that he accepted that there had to be an increase in employee contributions for members of the big public service pension schemes.
His decision follows the recent initial recommendations of Lord Hutton's independent commission.
Although no detailed decision will be taken until Lord Hutton's full report is delivered next spring, Mr Osborne said he expected changes to save the government £1.8bn a year by 2014-15, which would be the third largest saving outlined in the Spending Review.
The amount is less than only the previously-announced ending of child benefit for higher rate taxpayers (a saving by 2014-15 of £2.5bn a year) and the curtailment of contributory employment and support allowance (a £2bn saving by 2014-15).
Mr Osborne said that any increases in pension contributions should be "staggered and progressive", with the lowest paid and members of the armed forces being protected.
But those who gained the highest pensions from final-salary schemes should be expected to pay the most, Mr Osborne added.
He also said that the final-salary scheme for MPs, though not formally part of Lord Hutton's review, would have to end in its current form.
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The future of the Herdwick sheep breed is being protected by students at a college in Cumbria.
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The Herdwick's embryos are being frozen and stored in a gene bank, to secure the breed for many years to come.
The work is being carried out in part by agriculture students from Newton Rigg, near Penrith.
Matt Bagley, head of agriculture at Newton Rigg College, told BBC Radio Cumbria local farmers were very supportive.
He said: "The Herdwick, as much as any, is the Lake District. It's born, it's bred, it is only here that it thrives and does its best, and it would be an absolute tragedy to lose this heritage from the county."
Six pure bred ewes from fell farms across the county have been brought to Sewborwens Farm at Newton Rigg College where their embryos will be collected under a closely-monitored eight week programme.
The embryos will be frozen and stored in The Sheep Trust Heritage Gene Bank Archive along with fertilised eggs and semen.
Amanda Carson, secretary of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders' Association, said: "Our aim is to ensure the protection of the breed should a future catastrophe occur, such as foot and mouth, where numbers are either reduced or wiped out."
Herdwick numbers are currently not under threat - there are about 50,000 in the UK. The sheep will be returned to their farms at the end of the project.
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The family of former American football star Junior Seau has donated his brain for research into the effects of head trauma on football players.
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Seau, a 1990s star with the San Diego Chargers, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Wednesday, after his girlfriend found him unconscious.
His death followed the 2011 suicide of former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson.
Their deaths have led to questions over the effect of concussions on the brains of professional football players.
"They [the family] believe that through allowing this procedure, it will allow the betterment of other individuals and athletes in the years ahead," Pastor Shawn Mitchell, former chaplain for the Chargers, told the Reuters news agency.
"Their thought is, if it can benefit others, then it's probably worth going forward with."
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said Seau's brain would need to be conducted by outside researchers.
Effect of concussion?
Seau's family has not said whether they believe concussions could have played a role in the football star's death.
But recent studies have found a connection between repeated concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease with symptoms including memory loss and mood swings.
On Thursday, a more than a hundred former National Football League players filed a lawsuit claiming the National Football League (NFL) deliberately hid the dangers of concussions from them.
They join an additional 1,500 former NFL players who have put their names to similar lawsuits.
Duerson's family have already filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL, alleging that the organisation did not do enough to prevent or treat concussions that had damaged his brain. He died in February 2011.
Seau's ex-wife, Gina, told the Associated Press news agency that over the course of his 20-year football career, Seau also suffered concussions.
But his relatives and friends say they did not know of any issues that may have led to his death. Police have said they did not find a suicide note.
In 2010, Seau drove his car off a cliff hours after he had been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.
Seau starred with his hometown San Diego Chargers for 13 years before playing with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.
He was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Crowdfunding site Kickstarter has relaxed its rules about which projects can be placed on its site.
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By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor
The change ends outright bans on cosmetics, eyewear, electronic surveillance equipment and all health, medical and safety products.
However, weapons, drugs, pornography and political fundraising remain prohibited.
The New York-based firm said it wanted to "simplify" its rules. The move may also help it compete against rivals.
Alternatives, including Indiegogo and UK-based GoGetFunding, ban illegal and deliberately misleading projects, but otherwise take a more relaxed policy.
"Indiegogo's 'open-door' policy does have some drawbacks but it has proved that crowdfunding has much wider applications than the rather narrow rules which Kickstarter has had until now," said Barry James, founder of the UK-based Crowdfunding Centre advisory service.
"It's also shown that it's open-by-default nature helps enormously in the evaluation of projects and the early detection of any attempted fraud."
However, Nesta - an innovation-focused charity that has researched the crowdfunding industry - warned that the move carried risks.
"Kickstarter has had a reputation for being one of the more difficult platforms to get on, and I think the effect will be bad news for its rivals in the short term as it starts picking up the sort of projects it rejected in the past," its senior researcher Liam Colllins said.
"But I'd expect this to lead to an increased failed-project rate and potentially more issues with late delivery of rewards.
"The question is whether its brand is strong enough so that it can afford this and still enjoy market dominance."
Software check
Kickstarter has attracted more than $1bn of pledges since it began operations in 2009.
Members of the public only hand over cash if a project hits its funding target. They do not get a stake in the business but may qualify for a reward, such as an early release of a product seeking cash.
The site makes money by taking a 5% cut of the total amount raised and also charges a payment processing fee.
Its chief executive Yancey Strickler blogged that the new rules are based on three principles that projects should abide by:
In addition the firm is now offering creators the ability to launch their projects without having them approved by a member of Kickstarter's staff.
Instead the client can request that a software-based check is carried out to speed up this process.
This involves an algorithm checking that the rewards, funding goal and other information comply with the site's rules.
Mr Strickler noted that this option was only being made available to about 60% of projects now, but he intended to widen it to others soon.
He added that some clients might still prefer to speak to a community manager for tips on how to maximise their chance of success.
Rejected smart sock
One example of a product previously rejected by Kickstarter but accepted elsewhere is a smart sock for babies. The site rejected Owlet Care's device - which promises to transmit data about an infant's heart rate, skin temperature and position to an associated app - in 2012.
The start-up eventually raised more than $140,000 (£83,560) via a campaign using Selfstarter's crowdfunding platform before going on to obtain a further $1.85m from private investors.
Kickstarter stressed that its change in policy would not, however, be a free-for-all when it came to health-related tech.
"The new way to look at it is not about medicine/health/safety," spokesman Justin Kazmark said.
"But it's specifically [a ban on] any item claiming to cure, treat, or prevent an illness or condition - whether via a device, app, book, nutritional supplement or other means."
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Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called it the "Francis effect".
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Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
He believes the publication of the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal - led by Robert Francis QC - has been a catalyst for improving care.
But is this really true?
On one hand, most people agree it has refocused minds in an era when there is so much attention given to targets and balance sheets.
When the 1,800-page report was published on 6 February 2013 one phrase stood out.
The NHS system, it said, had "betrayed" the public and patients by putting corporate self-interest ahead of care.
That criticism sent shockwaves through the system.
Failing hospitals
Much of the past year has been spent with hospitals - and other providers for that matter - looking for ways to improve services, as Jocelyn Cornwell, of the Point of Care Foundation, explains.
"The Francis Inquiry has made a difference and inspired positive change. Senior managers have become more focussed on the quality of care and are listening more intently to feedback from both patients and staff about how services are delivered."
This, according to Mr Hunt, has resulted in something tangible: an increase in the number of nurses working on wards.
To prove this point, he has highlighted data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre - the official statistics body for the NHS - which shows the number of acute, elderly and general nurses (most of which work in hospitals) has risen by 3,500 in the past year to over 172,000 in October, the latest month for which figures are available.
But it is important these figures are seen in a wider context. If you look back over a longer time frame - say three years - overall nurse numbers (including the likes of midwives and health visitors) have hardly changed.
And, in fact, once you strip out those working in maternity care (increased to keep pace with the rising birth rate) the numbers have actually fallen.
This suggests the boost in hospital nurse numbers has come at a price: there has been a drain on other areas of the workforce.
Other key steps highlighted by Mr Hunt include the introduction of tougher inspections and a better regime for dealing with failing hospitals.
The Care Quality Commission launched its new way of inspecting hospitals in September.
This was widely welcomed as officials promised the visits would be longer and more expert-led - that is to say led by doctors and other staff who have experience of working in hospitals.
Although arguably these changes were set in train in 2012 following the appointment of a new leadership team at the CQC.
Happy staff
The point about failing hospitals relates to the 14 trusts placed in special measures, which has led to new management or extra support being put in place.
Again, there is praise for these steps.
Julie Bailey, of Cure the NHS, which helped bring the scandal of Stafford Hospital to national attention, called Mr Hunt "brave" for standing up for patients when she addressed the conference, Francis: A Year On, this week.
But it is also clear there have been some negative consequences, according to Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians.
He said the last year has seen a tendency to "beat up" the NHS, and hospitals in particular.
And this seems to have had an effect on morale.
In the latest quarterly report by the King's Fund think-tank staff morale was highlighted as the number one concern for finance directors above other factors such as finances and waiting times.
Sir Richard said it was now important to start "celebrating success" to improve wellbeing and morale.
His point is this: happy staff deliver good care.
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Caterpillar, the US manufacturing firm, is planning to cut 700 jobs at its Northern Ireland operations.
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The job losses will predominantly affect workers at its plant in Larne, County Antrim.
The company said the move is unrelated to Brexit and Covid-19, or the end of furlough schemes.
The job losses are expected to happen over the next 18 months and would leave the firm with 900 staff in Northern Ireland.
In a statement, the firm said its aim was to "improve cost competitiveness" and make "more efficient use of our manufacturing footprint".
'Outsourced to India'
The Unite union described it as "devastating news" for the Caterpillar workforce.
"These are very highly-skilled manufacturing jobs and they will not be easily recovered," said Unite's regional officer, George Brash.
In a statement, the union said it understood much of the production being cut in Larne is to be outsourced to India.
It called the restructuring plan a "scandalous profit grab at expense of workers in Northern Ireland" and said it would try to defend the jobs.
'Difficult for our employees'
The 700 jobs at risk include production, support and management positions.
"We recognise that what we are considering is difficult for our employees, their families and the community," said Joe Creed, vice president of Caterpillar's electric power division.
"We do not take these contemplations lightly."
However, Mr Creed said that the firm must plan for the future and its business "needs to be competitive".
Sammy Wilson, MP for the East Antrim constituency where the factory is located, said there had not been a consultation with workers on the job cuts.
"There was no attempt to see if anything could be done in Northern Ireland that could make Northern Ireland more competitive, and the jobs are suddenly going to disappear," he said.
Mr Wilson said it was important to now talk to the company and see if there were other positions it had within its operation that it could move to Northern Ireland.
"What has to happen is that we've got to target the types of manufacturing where we've got a comparative advantage," Mr Wilson added.
Economy Minister Diane Dodds described the news as a "devastating blow" to the local economy and to "many hard working families".
She said her department's careers service would work with those affected by the announcement.
"The situation has arisen as a result of a decision made by Caterpillar at corporate level," she said.
"The company has clearly stated their announcement is not a closure announcement.
"I have confidence in Northern Ireland's capability and that the Caterpillar operation will continue to be a key contributor to the manufacturing and engineering base in Northern Ireland."
In addition to the Larne plant, Caterpillar also has two sites in west Belfast.
These include a manufacturing facility in Springvale, which makes axles and transmissions for trucks, and an administrative centre in Springvale Business Park.
A spokesman for the firm told BBC News NI that the manufacturing facility in Springvale "is not impacted by this announcement".
However, Caterpillar is "considering the sale" of its Millennium office building in the Springvale Business Park.
If that sale goes ahead, the remaining office employees would be relocated to its Larne plant.
'Business as usual for global capitalism'
Caterpillar says these cuts are not related to Brexit or the pandemic.
So we can conclude it is simply a case of business as usual for global capitalism.
A giant company like Caterpillar will be constantly assessing where to deploy its resources for maximum efficiency and profitability.
Increasingly, that has meant moving manufacturing to lower cost locations which are closer to growth markets like China and India.
These cuts are not the end of Caterpillar in Northern Ireland, it will still have 900 staff.
But 10 years ago it was closer to 3,000.
A consultation on the proposed job cuts will be held with representatives of both full-time staff and casual workers.
Unite said it would use the minimum 90-day consultation period to "fight to defend these jobs and the important skill base they represent".
"Last year the company posted profits of more than $17bn but clearly that is not enough," said Mr Brash.
"They are seeking to make even more money at the cost of their workforce in Northern Ireland."
The union is meeting Caterpillar staff on Thursday afternoon to discuss their next steps.
The firm said the restructuring could begin before the end of this year and it expects the process to be complete by May 2022.
Caterpillar said it would support its workforce during the transition period and intends to provide severance packages to redundant employees.
Company history
The American company expanded into Northern Ireland in 1966 and Caterpillar (NI) Limited is now one of the biggest manufacturers of diesel generator sets in Europe.
In 1999, the US firm bought one of Northern Ireland's best known manufacturing companies, FG Wilson.
FG Wilson was renamed as Caterpillar (Northern Ireland) in 2013.
Staff at its plant on the Old Glenarm Road in Larne mainly work on the design, manufacture and sale of generator sets.
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A man confronted by self-styled paedophile hunters as he prepared to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl has been jailed.
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The sting on Mirza Beg at Bluewater Shopping Centre was streamed on Facebook and had almost 250,000 views.
Beg, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to a child sex offence at Maidstone Crown Court.
The 29-year-old was jailed for three years and three months.
He thought he was meeting a girl called 'Scarlett', who he had sent sexual messages to online, but it was actually a fake identity created by the The Hunted One group.
The court heard how the sting descended into violence as another group of people launched an attack on Beg, who arrived with condoms.
Judge David Griffith Jones said: "You plainly have a sexual interest in young children and a sentence of immediate imprisonment is demanded."
Prosecutor Tom Dunn said: "He sent 'her' pictures of him working in a Shisha bar. He told her that he loved her."
Beg also said she was his girlfriend and he would "teach" her about sex after their meeting on April 16.
On finding out 'Scarlett' was 14, he said "age doesn't matter."
Beg was stopped as he arrived at the bus stop outside the Greenhithe Marks and Spencer by Andy Bradstock, who had run the decoy account and other members of The Hunted One.
'Law into own hands'
He apologised immediately but then a second group arrived and launched an attack on him.
Mr Dunn said: "It's clear that Mr Bradstock and those with him and those at Bluewater were trying to stop the violence on Mr Beg."
Beg admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence when he appeared in court in May.
He has been placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, which will restrict his access to the internet and his contact with children under the age of 16.
Kent Police urged the public "not take the law into their own hands".
The force said: "All allegations are taken seriously but police time spent investigating incidents involving 'pretend' children diverts them from investigating the actual abuse of children.
"The chances of an actual child meeting someone they've met online and becoming a victim of this sort of offence is extremely low."
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TV hosts Ant and Dec are celebrating their first British number one single, with their 1994 hit Let's Get Ready to Rhumble shooting back up the charts.
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The song made it to number one after the duo performed the track on their ITV show Saturday Night Takeaway last weekend, prompting fans to download it.
The pair had several hits in the 1990s as PJ and Duncan, the names of their characters in TV drama Byker Grove.
The original Let's Get Ready to Rhumble single got to number nine in 1994.
It was their most successful release as PJ and Duncan, although they later re-named themselves Ant & Dec and made it to number three with Fifa's official 2002 World Cup song, On the Ball.
The pair, whose real names are Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, announced earlier this week that they will donate profits from their number one record to ChildLine.
'Bit harder'
Speaking on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, McPartlin said: "I've been trying to push it under the carpet! People are still buying the track, so we've just decided that any money we make out of it will be put towards ChildLine, as we're patrons of that."
On performing the routine, Donnelly said: "At 37 it's a little bit harder than 19, it felt a lot quicker than in 1994!"
He added that its new success has "been bewildering".
The pair also had a number five album in 1994, titled Psyche.
Their other hits included Stepping Stone and Stuck On U.
After rising to fame on BBC children's series Byker Grove and enjoying their stint as pop singers, they joined ITV in 1998 presenting the Saturday morning shows SM:TV Live and CD:UK.
They have fronted several entertainment shows for ITV, such as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and Britain's Got Talent, and have won the National Television Award for best entertainment presenter(s) 12 years running between 2001 and 2013.
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A gunman had offered to stay in a hotel to avoid confrontation on the night he killed himself and three of his family members, an inquest has heard.
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Michael Atherton, 42, shot himself, his partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull and Ms Turnbull's daughter Tanya on New Year's Day 2012.
Mr Atherton had warned there would be "trouble" if he saw Alison Turnbull at his home that evening.
But his victims arrived at the house in Horden, County Durham, before he left.
Mr Atherton disliked Alison Turnbull and blamed her for his arrest in 2008 following a family row, the hearing in Crook, County Durham, was told.
Text message
On the night of the shootings, the sisters and other family members had been out to a local rugby club without Mr Atherton, who grew angry when his son Mick told him they were together.
The taxi driver sent a text message to his partner saying: "Our Mick says you are with your Ali. Going to stop at the Lodge. Aint spending a night in the cells. See you tomorrow."
But Mrs McGoldrick's party arrived home before Mr Atherton left, and his partner accused him of assaulting her earlier that night, Det Supt Paul Goundry told the inquest.
Giving evidence, Mr Goundry said an argument started and when Mr Atherton went out of the back door, those present believed he was leaving for the night.
But he returned with a gun that he had prepared for an early shoot with friends the next morning, and opened fire, first killing his partner, the inquest heard.
Survivor Laura McGoldrick, who fled to safety by climbing through the bathroom window, wept as coroner Andrew Tweddle was shown the shotgun used.
The inquest earlier heard how more than 100 gun licences were revoked in the wake of the killings.
Durham Police has admitted it knew of Mr Atherton's history of violence and the hearing has been told how the force missed opportunities to remove the weapons he legally owned.
The hearing continues.
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Can Isis - the small but fanatical jihadist army now controlling large tracts of Syria and Iraq - rule the lands it has conquered?
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By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent
Since the beginning of June, Isis - which has recently rebranded itself as "Islamic State" - has burst out of its stronghold in eastern Syria to seize Mosul, Iraq's second city, then advance down the length of the Euphrates Valley to threaten the edge of Baghdad itself.
Wherever it has taken over, its black-clad and balaclava'd fighters have imposed a draconian version of Sharia, or Islamic law, prompting thousands to flee as refugees.
Analysts point out that seizing territory is one thing, governing it is quite another.
But given the internal problems and weaknesses besetting both the Syrian and Iraqi states, there is no sign that Isis is about to be dislodged soon. So, are they actually in a position to rule?
That, of course, depends on many factors - local tribal support, economic viability, access to fuel and water, perceptions of their religious authority and that of their leader and self-appointed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and whether or not Isis overreach themselves.
'Punching above its weight'
So far, Isis has enjoyed phenomenal short-term military success, largely through a combination of fear and firepower.
Even if they were crushed tomorrow, military historians are unlikely to forget the effect of their blitzkrieg "psyops" campaign, the Isis psychological operation to terrify their opponents by flooding social media on the internet with gruesome images and videos of what happens to their enemies.
The sight of beheadings, crucifixions and summary executions, all filmed with a ghoulish commentary, was enough to make Iraq's poorly motivated security forces lay down their weapons and flee last month.
But Isis has effectively been "punching above its weight", to use a boxing analogy.
As the remnants and successors to a badly damaged "al-Qaeda in Iraq", the group had only about 10,000-15,000 fighters at most when it began taking over much of western Iraq in June.
Reportedly, Isis took over Mosul with no more than 800 fighters. But these were just the shock troops.
Isis' fortunes were, and still are, heavily dependent on the support of local tribes and militias, without whom they could not hope to hold down a city of two million like Mosul.
"Isis' ability to control lands has been based on deals with local militants willing to do the 'ruling' for them," says Mina al-Orabi, assistant editor of pan-Arab Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper and originally from Mosul herself.
"Some of these deals are based on fear, others on a temporary meeting of interests, at times it is as crude as financial deals being struck between different gangs," she adds.
Maintaining power, order and loyalty in the longer term will mean keeping those interests onside and sufficiently "invested" in rule by Isis.
Learning from mistakes
The last time jihadists ruled a sizable chunk of Iraq for a sizable amount of time was when Isis' predecessors held sway over much of Anbar province in 2006, and they blew it.
Under the crude, brutal, and sadistic leadership of the Jordanian ex-convict, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the jihadists managed to alienate most of the local population.
They cut off the heads of Sunni sheikhs who refused to pledge allegiance, they blew up Shia mosques, trying to start a sectarian civil war, and they cut off the fingers of people they caught smoking (a practice they deem as un-Islamic).
This did not exactly win them hearts and minds.
Stop persecuting your fellow Muslims, implored al-Qaida's leadership back in Pakistan, but it was in vain - al-Zarqawi ignored his nominal masters.
In the end, Jordanian intelligence tracked him down, he died in a US airstrike and the jihadists were driven out by the local tribes backed by a "surge" of US troops.
Eight years on and the jihadists of Isis are firmly back in Anbar after a spectacular squandering of the advantage by the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who sent troops to besiege a protest camp in Falluja late last year.
So has Isis learned from the mistakes of its antecedents?
Ask some of the residents of Raqqa in north-east Syria, where Isis has been in control since May 2013, and they would say "no".
Stories abound of harsh punishments imposed for the slightest of offences, women being confined to the home, public crucifixions, kidnappings and extortionate levies imposed on businesses.
Once again, al-Qaeda's much diminished leadership scolded Isis or its excesses, and in February they formally disowned the whole organisation.
Oil and water
But others under Isis rule tell a different story.
Reports have filtered out of efficient municipal garbage collection, safer streets, generous distribution of fuel and food to the poor.
Sound familiar? This is exactly how the Taliban started out in Afghanistan in 1994, gradually increasing their territory until the 9/11 attacks on the US provoked the campaign that drove them from power in 2001.
One of the biggest advantages for a puritanical, religiously-cloaked militant organisation like Isis is the poor governance and perceived corruption of its secular alternative - the national government of Iraq.
To succeed as a viable state, let alone as a transnational "caliphate", Isis will need access to oil and water.
It has both. In Syria its forces control the oil-producing region around Deir Az-zour, including Syria's largest oilfield at al-Omar, reportedly even selling oil to their enemies, the Assad regime itself.
They also control Syria's largest dam, the Tabqa Dam at Lake Assad.
In Iraq they control the Falluja dam and have some, disputed, access to Iraq's largest oil refinery at Baiji. In a part of the world where oil and water are the two key commodities, Isis finds itself in a powerful position.
'Jihadistan'?
Leaving aside for now whether or not the wider Muslim umma (community) will accept the recently proclaimed khilafa (caliphate) of Isis - and it has been swiftly denounced by many Muslim scholars - the fact remains that Isis controls a large area of the Middle East and it is not going away.
Neither the forces of President Assad in Syria, nor the forces of the Iraqi government alone can dislodge Isis from the ground it has taken, it is too well entrenched.
Syrian air strikes will have some impact, so will Iraq's newly bought Sukhoi-25 jets and assistance from the US and Iran, but ultimately this is about holding onto territory on the ground.
The only force capable of permanently ejecting Isis will be the tribes in those regions, and they have little incentive to do so while the Syrian civil war rages on and a non-inclusive government sits in Baghdad, led by a Shia prime minister perceived as discriminating against Sunnis.
Which leaves the prospect of a violent, extremist, well-armed, well-funded and religiously intolerant militia becoming a permanent part of the Middle East landscape, a sort of de facto "jihadistan".
Would it stop there?
Unlikely. As far back as last year its adherents were proclaiming their ultimate aim of conquering territory as far away as Spain (ruled by Muslims for centuries as al-Andalus), Austria and China.
Even if Isis remained within the boundaries of the areas it has taken so far, it would likely be a springboard for attacks on neighbouring countries like Jordan and Lebanon, as well as attracting hundreds of young jihadists from the UK and the wider West.
Shiraz Maher, an expert on the Syrian jihad at King's College London, says there is little appetite for concerted international action to dislodge them.
"The fact Isis has taken a large amount of territory is not unique. We've seen jihadist organisations achieve this in the past, for example, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Horn of Africa, and Mali most recently.
"In every one of those cases, Western-backed intervention tipped the balance against jihadist gains. That's the key difference here. Both Iraq and Syria are failed states with ineffective armies, and there is no appetite in the West to intervene."
Isis, concludes Mr Maher, could therefore continue to hold their ground, ruling an area the size of Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future.
But Mina al-Orabi believes there are signs that Isis deals with local militants are already starting to unravel, meaning:
"Isis can only rule depending on brute violence or the threat of using it."
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British actress Patsy Byrne, best known for playing Nursie in Blackadder II, has died aged 80.
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She died on Tuesday at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors, in Hillingdon, north-west London.
The Kent-born actress joined the Royal Shakespeare Company after drama school and took on TV and theatre roles.
She played Nursie - a kind but dim-witted nursemaid to Elizabeth I - in the second series of BBC comedy Blackadder in 1986.
Byrne joined the RSC after studying drama at the Rose Bruford College in Kent.
Her other roles included the ITV sitcom Watching and the classic police series Z Cars. She also made appearances in Holby City and I, Claudius, and played Mrs Nubbles in the BBC's 1979 adaption of The Old Curiosity Shop.
Byrne's death came just over a week after Rik Mayall, who shared screen time with her as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder, died suddenly at his home in London.
Blackadder ran for four series between 1983 and 1989. The first series was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, while subsequent series were by Curtis and Ben Elton.
It followed the exploits of Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder character through various historical periods.
Blackadder producer John Lloyd paid tribute to Byrne, saying she and Miranda Richardson, who played Queen Elizabeth I, were a "fantastic double act".
"It's ironic that she will be remembered for that lovable, slightly idiotic person with that ludicrous drawl, but she was a proper actress: with the RSC, she played Chekhov opposite Rex Harrison, was incredibly well spoken, but she would put up with our little ways," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"The rehearsals on Blackadder were interminable, with us changing our minds all the time and she was always on top of it and she never complained. We had famous actors walk out of rehearsals because it was such a nightmare and shambles. But with Patsy there was never a peep of complaint."
Tony Robinson, who played dim-witted sidekick Baldrick in the show and cast Byrne in his Maid Marion and Her Merry Men series, paid tribute to the actress and her influence on the set.
"I was so fond of her as a person and so in awe of her capabilities that when I decided I wanted to introduce a mother to Maid Marion, my first choice was Patsy," he told 5 live.
"I was thrilled that she took it. Even though she has done such grand work she came down to Minehead and rolled her sleeves up and was just one of the lads, as she always was, and did a great performance."
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Pop star Kylie Minogue is to headline BBC Radio 2's "festival in a day" at Hyde Park this summer.
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By Mark SavageBBC Music reporter
The singer, who recently turned 50, will mix songs from her new album Golden with some of her greatest hits.
"I've played at Hyde Park a few times and the vibes are always, always good," she told Radio 2's Chris Evans.
Kylie joins a line-up that includes All Saints, Rita Ora, Manic Street Preachers and Lenny Kravitz. The show takes place on Sunday, 9 September.
Country star Carrie Underwood will also give a rare UK performance at the event, a week before the release of her sixth album, Cry Pretty.
Tickets for the festival are on sale via the Radio 2 website.
Last year's event, which was headlined by Take That, sold out in less than an hour. The show saw a comeback performance by Shania Twain, as well as James Blunt crowd-surfing in a dinghy and Mark Owen splitting his trousers.
The annual event always comes a day after Radio 3's Proms In The Park, which coincides with the Last Night of the Proms.
This year's event will be hosted by Michael Ball and feature performances by Gladys Knight, Josh Groban and Lisa Stansfield.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
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Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), which is also known as the Houthi movement, has experienced several major transformations in arriving at its current dominant position in Yemeni politics.
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By Charles SchmitzTowson University
It began in the 1990s as a youth-orientated revivalist movement that wanted to defend the religious traditions of a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism.
By the 2000s, it was leading a stubborn military insurgency that enveloped tribal politics in the far northern governorate of Saada. Its objective was to defend itself and its allies against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's military.
When the Arab Spring began in 2011, Ansar Allah was a welcome supporter of the peaceful protests against Mr Saleh and actively participated in the National Dialogue that followed his fall. The group backed regional autonomy, respect for diversity, and the strengthening of a democratic state.
But as the interim government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi stalled in early 2014, Ansar Allah launched an aggressive military campaign in the north, defeating key military units allied to Gen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and the Islah political party.
This culminated in its descent upon the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.
Ansar Allah's stated aim was to install a more effective interim government to implement the outcomes of the National Dialogue. But clearly, it also sought military dominance in the north.
In the last year, an alliance with its former enemy, Mr Saleh, played a key role in transforming Ansar Allah into the dominant military and political force in the country.
For his part, the former president used the alliance with Ansar Allah to overthrow the Gulf-backed Hadi government and carve a more secure place for himself in future Yemeni politics.
Repression
The source of Ansar Allah's power is principally domestic and political, not religious.
The Zaidi "Sada" - those claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad's family, and who played a special role in the regimes of the Zaidi Imams that ruled North Yemen for almost 1,000 years until 1962 - were discriminated against by the leaders of the new republican Yemen because they were perceived as a threat.
In the liberal period of the 1990s, some of the Sada emerged to search for a place for themselves in the republic. They formed two political parties, al-Haqq (Truth) and Ittihad al-Quwa al-Shaabiyya (Union of Popular Forces).
Al-Shabab al-Muminin (Believing Youth), the predecessor of Ansar Allah, was meanwhile founded by Hussein al-Houthi to revive Zaidi tradition in the face of effective proselytising among the young by Saudi-backed Wahhabis and local Salafists.
But it was the attack of the Saleh regime on al-Shabab al-Muminin that propelled the movement to the fore of Yemeni politics.
Hussein al-Houthi challenged President Saleh's legitimacy by claiming that he was weak and beholden to the United States and its "War on Terror".
In the context of the US-led invasion of Iraq, he chanted: "Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse the Jews. Long live Islam in the Grand Mosque of Sanaa." However, the target of the chant was Mr Saleh, not America or Israel.
Mr Saleh attempted to repress the movement by force, but the tactics of the Yemeni military pursuing Hussein in the north alienated large sections of the population.
Ansar Allah's power grew from exploiting resentments against the Saleh regime, its military, and the leadership of the Hashid tribal confederation by the regime's key tribal supporters, the al-Ahmar family.
Ansar Allah knew northern Yemeni society and tribal organisation intimately, and those that fought for Ansar Allah against Saleh did not fight for Zaidi religious beliefs, but for freedom from oppression by an autocratic ruler.
Ansar Allah provided credible political and military leadership, not religious guidance.
Expansion
The successful revolt of Ansar Allah in Saada was one of the key political failures of the Saleh rule.
A similar failure took shape in the south, where popular rejection of Saleh's regime was widespread, but without effective political leadership.
Ansar Allah's support was drawn from those who rejected Mr Saleh's regime in the south, in the middle regions of Taizz, in the eastern desert of Marib and the Jawf, along with the educated youth activists of Sanaa. Ansar Allah joined the other anti-Saleh forces to forge the outlines of the liberal, post-Saleh regime.
However, the interim government of President Hadi - Mr Saleh's former deputy - floundered.
The National Dialogue took longer than expected, the question of the federal division of Yemen was not resolved consensually, and the rankling among political parties jockeying for position in the post-transition elections strangled the government while the economy deteriorated.
Ansar Allah began in early 2014 to take matters into its own hands.
It appeared to distrust the interim process and aimed initially to guarantee its military dominance of the north.
Ansar Allah had been the victim of Mr Saleh's military in the 2000s and the organisation, fearing the incompetence of the interim government, moved to guarantee its own security.
Mr Saleh played a key role in this last phase of Ansar Allah's expansion.
In the interim period, the former president became an international pariah because of his interference in the transitional government.
In Ansar Allah, Mr Saleh saw a chance to change the balance of power in Yemen by defeating those that defected from him in the last days of his rule.
Ansar Allah attacked the Hashid tribal leadership of the al-Ahmar family, the Islah party, and the military units of the party's ally, Gen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (who is unrelated to the Hashid leaders). It defeated Mr Saleh's enemies in the interim government.
But Ansar Allah made big political mistakes. Its military wing moved fast to achieve maximum advantage without, it appears, consulting the movement's political strategists. Or else, perhaps, the organisation had no political strategy.
Stand-off
Ansar Allah retained the support of Yemen's political leaders and international backers of Yemen's transitional government as long as it adhered to the principles of the National Dialogue.
However, it broke those rules when it tried to dictate terms to President Hadi and he refused.
Mr Hadi's resignation in January galvanised opposition to Ansar Allah in Sanaa and the southern and eastern regions of the country.
Now, Ansar Allah appears to lack a political strategy to unite Yemen's diverse political groups.
Mr Saleh may be hoping for Ansar Allah political mistakes to weaken the movement, leaving him in a key position to negotiate Yemen's political future.
However, Ansar Allah may have sufficient military advantage to consolidate its control of much of the rest of the country and repress any attempts by Mr Saleh to undermine the movement. Mr Saleh may be a prisoner of Ansar Allah.
Ansar Allah wants to consolidate its control of as much of the country as possible, particularly the oil-rich eastern portion of the country, and it wants to consolidate its political position, particularly with international recognition.
While Ansar Allah may be able to further its military gains in the south, for example, where a very divided political leadership leaves the south vulnerable to manipulation, the Gulf states and the US appear intent upon denying Ansar Allah international recognition and supporting Mr Hadi's claim to leadership.
Yemen may see a long stand-off between Ansar Allah's north and President Hadi's south and east.
Dr Charles Schmitz is a professor of geography at Towson University in Baltimore and a scholar at the Middle East Institute
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The pilot of a plane that crashed in Nepal last March "seemed to have an emotional breakdown", according to a final report into the disaster.
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The flight carrying 71 people from Dhaka in Bangladesh caught fire as it landed in Kathmandu, killing 51 people.
It was initially thought that poor communication with air traffic control may have been to blame.
But investigators now say the pilot was ranting to crew members and even smoking in the cockpit, due to stress.
Nepal's Accident Investigation Commission said in its report that the captain of US-Bangla Airlines flight BS211 was "very much emotionally disturbed and stressed" because a female colleague, who was not on board the plane, had "questioned his reputation" as a good flight instructor.
The 52-year-old pilot was released from the Bangladeshi Air Force in 1993 because of depression, the report says, but was later declared fit to fly civilian aircraft.
Recent medical reports had not mentioned any symptoms.
Investigators say the pilot's vocal pitch, and the language he was using "indicated that he was agitated and experiencing high levels of stress" even when speaking to ground control in Dhaka before take-off.
According to the black box voice recorder and reports from surviving passengers, the pilot smoked in the cockpit and "engaged in unnecessary, unprofessional and lengthy conversation even in the critical phase" of the flight.
"This state of mind with high degree of stress and emotional state might have led him to all the procedural lapses," the report says. "This, together with the failure on the part of both the crew to follow the standard operating procedure at the critical stage of the flight, contributed to the loss of situational awareness."
It adds that the 25-year-old first officer may have been reluctant to be more assertive during the final approach and landing because of the captain's experience and authority.
Because they had lost "situational awareness", the crew failed to realise the flight had deviated from its intended path until it was too late.
They missed the runway at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, and ended up flying in an incorrect position in the dangerous mountainous terrain.
"Finally, when the crew sighted the runway, they were very low and too close to [it] and not properly aligned," the report says, adding that the landing attempt should have been aborted.
Instead the pilot "forced it to land while in a turn". The plane quickly skidded off the runway and through a fence, rolling down a slope into a grassy field where it was engulfed in flames.
Soon after the crash, 29-year-old survivor Sharin Ahmed told BBC Nepali that "there was a huge fire outside and smoke gushed into our cabin", followed by an "explosion".
Both pilots, the two cabin crew and 47 passengers died as a result of the accident. The crash was the worst aviation disaster to hit Nepal in 26 years.
The report recommended that US-Bangla should actively monitor and assess its pilots' mental health, as well as any professional or personal issues they may be facing.
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Hollywood scribe Michael Arndt will write the next instalment in the Star Wars series, Lucasfilm has confirmed.
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Arndt won an Oscar for best original screenplay for the 2006 comedy Little Miss Sunshine. His screenplay for Toy Story 3 was nominated for best adapted screenplay in 2010.
He has also co-written the second film in the Hunger Games trilogy.
According to the Hollywod Reporter, the latest Star Wars story will focus on a new generation of heroes.
However, there could be appearances by actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher in older incarnations of their characters - Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia - from the original Star Wars trilogy.
Harrison Ford, who played space smuggler Han Solo, is also reported to be interested in reprising his role.
Ford's Hollywood star rose with his appearances in the three Star Wars film, which he followed up with his role as archaeologist adventurer Indiana Jones and films including with The Fugitive and his Oscar-nominated turn in Witness.
Hamill is an in-demand voice actor and Fisher, who struggled with drug addictions throughout the 1970s, is a successful novelist and screenwriter.
In October, it was announced that Disney had bought George Lucas's Lucasfilms company for a reported $4.05 billion (£2.5bn) and was committed to producing three new films.
George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy will produce the films but have yet to hire a director for the project.
Pixar alumnus Brad Bird has been touted in the movie press as has British director of Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn.
Star Wars: Episode 7, the next film in the franchise is due to be released in 2015.
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Cleaners working on the Tyne and Wear Metro are to strike for two weeks in an escalation of a long-running pay dispute.
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The staff, employed by Churchill, will walk out from Friday until 26 July.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said the action had national significance in the battle against "low pay and exploitation".
Metro operator DB Regio said passengers would not suffer inconvenience.
Sharon Kelly, director of customer services and operations, said: "This is a matter for Churchill to resolve with its staff.
"We have contingencies in place so passengers will not notice any change to services during the action."
'Value for money'
The cleaning staff have so far taken part in 19 days of industrial action.
The RMT claimed Metro owner Nexus could "force its contractors DB Regio to instruct their subcontractors, Churchill, to pay a living wage if it chose to take the issue on".
Nexus said cleaning services were contracted out "to ensure the local taxpayer gets the best value for money".
A spokesman said: "This is a dispute between the RMT and Churchill.
"Nexus does not employ the cleaning staff on Metro so cannot get involved in an issue over their terms and conditions. It is a matter for the employer and the union to negotiate over."
Churchill was unavailable for comment.
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Courts in Somerset are being asked to accept a new way of assessing whether children are at risk.
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Family assessments help the courts to decide whether children should be taken from their parents and put into care.
Social services wants to increase the number of community-based assessments instead of residential ones.
Head of children and families services Steve Tanner said: "It's much more natural in a family community setting than in an institutional setting."
'Bonding and attachment'
The team has said they also give a more accurate picture of the birth parents' care-giving abilities.
"We would be looking at parenting capacity and whether they can provide basic care for a child.
"Typical things for a baby would be feeding, changing nappies but it's also critical things like bonding and attachment and seeing if the parent can meet their emotional needs as well," said Mr Tanner.
Community-based assessments involve children and parents living with a specialist foster carer who will work closely with a social worker assigned to the case.
"The main benefit is that it gives a more realistic assessment where people behave more naturally rather than in an institution, and in the end it is in best interests for the children," said Mr Tanner.
Residential assessments involve several families being placed in the same building, is more labour-intensive and has a surveillance based approach using CCTV-monitoring.
Process the paperwork
The family assessments budget is being cut by £250,000 by the council and it is hoped this new approach will also cut costs.
Currently residential placements can cost up to £5,500 a week but community-based ones are about £1,000 a week.
Three social work staff will also be recruited by Somerset County Council adding to the existing team of four who will process the paperwork.
The council also wants to recruit up to 10
specialist foster carers
to increase capacity.
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A Hungarian camerawoman who was filmed kicking or tripping up migrants near the Hungary-Serbia border has been sentenced to three years' probation for disorderly conduct.
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Petra Laszlo was filming refugees in September 2015 as they broke through a police cordon.
She was captured kicking two people as they fled, including a young girl. Later she appeared to trip a man carrying a child.
She says she will appeal.
Judge Illes Nanasi said Laszlo's behaviour "ran counter to societal norms" and rejected her defence lawyer's argument that she was trying to protect herself.
"I turned and saw several hundred people charging toward me. It was quite incredibly frightening," she said.
She appeared in Szeged District Court hearing via video link and occasionally broke into tears. She said she had received death threats since the incident and that had been subjected to a "hate campaign".
Right-wing TV channel N1TV fired her after the footage of her actions went viral on social media.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.
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Pope Francis is the most illustrious visitor to have ever visited the city of Villavicencio.
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By Katy WatsonBBC News in Villavicencio, Colombia
In the main square, the excitement was clear to see.
Dotted along the side of the square, in front of the cathedral, dozens of stalls were selling Pope memorabilia.
From T-shirts to key rings; special edition coins to plastic ponchos, people wanted a piece of him to take home.
"I'm so happy he's come," says 22-year-old Mauricio Rodriguez. "He needs to come more often, he drove past far too quickly."
Villavicencio was chosen as part of the pontiff's Colombia tour because it was at the heart of the conflict that this country faced for more than five decades.
"Every day, there would be a new story in the papers: a local town being taken over, a mine, a mass kidnapping or extortion," says Villavicencio's Mayor Wilmar Barbosa, who admits that his generation knows nothing else.
"It's a city of 500,000 people, and 146,000 are registered with the victims' office - that's more than a quarter of the population who've been victims of the armed conflict," he says.
"After the signing of the peace deal, that encouraged us to not just reconcile but to pull ourselves together."
'What happened to my dad?'
Reconciliation has been the theme of the Pope's visit, and Villavicencio was seen as the pinnacle of his tour.
The open-air mass in the morning felt like a music concert. Cheering, singing and excitement. People had their mobile phones out, recording it all to capture this moment.
Virginia Bermudez was one of about 5,000 victims who were invited to a prayer event with the Pope.
Perpetrators of the violence were also present in the ceremony preaching forgiveness.
Virginia's mother was enlisted into the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) when Virginia was six.
She tells me she sacrificed herself because the Farc threatened to take Virginia and her siblings. Then 13 years later, Virginia's father was disappeared by the group too.
She's given up expecting her mother to return. Part of Virginia feels her mother didn't want to come back. But she's not giving up on her father.
"I've got lots of hope for the peace process - people call me a dreamer," she says.
"I want to know what happened to my dad. Where's his body? Is he dead? If he's alive, do they have him?"
She thinks the peace process means she could get answers to those questions.
Window-dressing
Sat next to her is another victim, Luz Angela Giraldo Serrato.
Farc guerrillas took over her family's cattle farm in Miraflores, in the state of Guaviare. Her step-father and brother were killed because the family didn't pay bribes in time.
Luz was studying in Bogota at the time - but lack of finances meant she had to stop. Her family moved from city to city, trying to escape the Farc who were chasing them for the farm's documents.
"Nothing's changed since the peace process," says Luz. In the neighbourhood she now lives in, many still face extortion.
"I think the process is window-dressing," she adds.
Luz and Virginia highlight the challenge facing Colombia.
Everyone wants peace, but people are divided as to how best to achieve it.
The Pope's message here was that reconciliation was the only way to ensure the success of the peace process.
He told Colombians to rise from the "swamp" of bitterness.
Easier said than done after half a century of conflict.
But 37-year-old Johana Jimenez says Colombians have to work at it.
Johana runs a little beauty parlour on the outskirts of Villavicencio. A simple salon with a mirror, a hairdressing chair and a row of bright coloured nail polish bottles on a shelf.
Johana was given eight million pesos (£2,090; $2,760) by the government to help her get her business off the ground.
It was a grant aimed at reintegrating former fighters because up until a few years ago, she was a Farc member.
When her 12-year-old sister decided to sign up, she said she had little choice but to join too, to protect her.
To do that, she had to leave her two daughters with her parents-in-law.
"I had to make a decision. My sister needed me at the time," she tells me. "My daughters had stability, they had someone to look after them."
New beginning
Nearly four years later, they escaped and sought refuge in a church.
The priest handed them over to the army and from there, she was integrated back into society. But two of her sisters have died.
"I am a victim but I am also a perpetrator - so I'm in both camps," she says of the divisions in Colombia.
"I want the Pope's message of peace to lead to less judgement and more understanding about people who used to be guerrillas or paramilitaries."
She tells the story of some boys who found their mother mutilated by paramilitaries. They joined up with the Farc to take revenge.
"These people were angry," she says. But the boys are now part of the 7,000 former fighters who are being reintegrated back into society.
The deal struck between the government and the Farc last year made this possible, so Johana backs it, despite having reservations at first.
"It's the best way of achieving peace."
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Storm protection barriers have been damaged by strong winds combined with very high tides.
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The support piling and the pontoon wall at St Sampson's Harbour were damaged overnight.
Guernsey Harbours' maintenance staff are carrying out repairs, where the tidal conditions allow.
A spokesman urged berth holders to check their mooring ropes during bad weather and advised mariners "to exercise caution in the area".
A tide warning has been issued for Tuesday with a 10m tide at 19:22 GMT alongside force 5-7 easterly winds.
Related Internet Links
Guernsey Harbours
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A father accused of murdering his partner has told a court he killed her by hurling an imitation Faberge egg at her after she confessed to an affair.
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Natalie Hemming, 31, was found dead in woodland near Chandlers Cross, Hertfordshire, on 22 May.
Paul Hemming denies murder but admitted manslaughter at the start of his trial at Luton Crown Court.
He told the jury the heavy egg, made of jade, hit Miss Hemming's head, causing her to fall into a coffee table.
He said he then realised she was not breathing, telling the jury: "I couldn't believe I had done it. I just thought...I'm in trouble. How am I going to explain it to the kids upstairs? So then I thought I am going to cover this up."
When he was asked why, he replied: "Because I knew I had killed her."
Miss Hemming was last seen alive in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, on 1 May.
The court was told Mr Hemming drove Miss Hemming to a wooded area 30 miles away from the couple's home in Alderney Avenue, Newton Leys in Milton Keynes, where he left her body in undergrowth.
The jury has been told their relationship was difficult and Miss Hemming had told her partner she wanted to leave him for another man.
In court, Mr Hemming admitted he was "heartbroken" at the prospect of them splitting up, but he denied claims he had been violent towards Miss Hemming shortly before her death.
When asked what he was thinking when he threw the £1,000 egg, he replied: "I have no idea what was in my mind."
He said he had not intended to kill her.
The trial continues.
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Michael Gove is considering a ban on the live export of animals after Brexit to help the UK become a world leader in animal welfare.
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The environment secretary has asked industry experts and campaigners to submit evidence on the process, with "all options" being considered.
Labour called the announcement "weak" and it wants stronger action.
The National Farmers' Union estimates up to 20,000 live sheep - but no cattle - were exported to Europe in 2017.
The rules of the European Union's single market currently prevent the UK from banning exports of livestock, according to BBC rural affairs correspondent David Gregory-Kumar.
But he said that live exports only account for a "tiny part" of the UK's £2.4bn trade in meat and livestock products with Continental Europe.
Launching the consultation, Mr Gove said the UK already had some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, but the government wanted to keep to their manifesto promise and improve on them.
He said: "All animals deserve to get the respect and care they deserve at every stage of their lives.
"With all options being considered, I am keen to hear from industry, the devolved authorities and charities on all possible options and evidence on this vital issue."
Critics of live exporting have welcomed the consultation.
British Veterinary Association president John Fishwick said his organisation would be contributing.
He added: "Animals should be transported on the hook, as meat, not on the hoof, as live animals.
"It is vital that we maintain the UK's current high standards of animal welfare post-Brexit and seek opportunities to improve them."
Dr Marc Cooper, head of the RSPCA's farm animals department, said the charity had been calling for a ban "for decades" and was pleased about an opportunity to end the practice.
'Desperate attempt'
But Labour's shadow environment secretary, Sue Hayman, said a consultation did not go far enough.
She said: "This weak announcement only amounts to a call for evidence and is just the latest in a string of desperate attempts by the Tories to portray themselves as animal-friendly.
"Over the last year the Tories have supported a free vote on bringing back fox hunting and overseen the largest number of badgers culled across England on record.
"Labour is the party of animal welfare and our proposed 50-point plan goes much further and proposes a ban on live exports for slaughter or fattening."
A review into the existing welfare standards for animals during transport has also been launched by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee and research on the issue is being undertaken by Scotland's Rural College and the University of Edinburgh.
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Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders has said the band are not planning on playing UK shows this summer.
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Following the release of their third album Humbug last August the Sheffield group headlined the Reading and Leeds festivals but say their forthcoming American tour will bring an end to the current campaign.
Speaking to Radio 1's Zane Lowe, Matt Helders says the shows are likely to be the last.
"I think so, yeah," he admitted. "I think we're doing a quick campaign this time around. We're quite eager to record again."
Arctic Monkeys' only UK show currently announced is an appearance at the Teenage Cancer Trust series at London's Royal Albert Hall on 27 March.
Regarding the sound of the new material they're working on the sticksman added: "It's going to be different again. Not necessarily in the same direction as the last record.
"There are some left-overs from the last record - stuff that we saved because we thought it'd be good enough for another album but didn't fit in with the third album - a bit heavier and a bit more upbeat."
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The headlines will be dominated by celebs like Harry Kane, Geraint Thomas and Phillip Pullman receiving honours from the Queen.
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But the New Year Honours list also recognises the work of people across the UK who've made big contributions to their communities.
From setting up charities to running local magazines, there are plenty of young people being acknowledged for their hard-work this year.
Here are some of their stories.
Adam Black
Adam received the British Empire Medal for services to raising awareness of stammering.
He told Radio 1 Newsbeat: "A letter arrived on my doorstep and it had Cabinet Office written on it, and to be honest I thought it might be something to do with my tax returns or something!
"When I opened it up and read the news I was blown away by it."
Adam has been teaching children in schools around Glasgow that it's ok to be different.
He said: "I meet as many children as I can and get them to embrace their quirks.
"I've found that by embracing my stutter it made me who I am and helped me be the person I want to be."
Adam, who's 29-years-old, hopes his award will help him keep raising awareness of people who stammer.
"I never ever had an idea in my head that perhaps I might get a nomination for a Queen's honour," he told Newsbeat.
"But I do think things like this can encourage people to put their best foot forward, and make others stand up and take notice of the work they do."
Stephen Addison
Stephen was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services to young people in Barking and Dagenham.
After losing a friend to gang violence and being involved in gangs himself, Stephen decided to set up a social enterprise called Box Up Crime.
Since 2013 his organisation has been teaching non-contact boxing skills in schools, pupil referral units and community centres across London.
The 28-year-old has been recognised because he's an example of how drive and ambition can be re-focussed away from crime.
Saeed Atcha
Twenty-two-year-old Saaed was given an MBE for services to young people and the community in Greater Manchester.
Saeed set up his own magazine in 2011 called Xplode, it focuses on social issues and is designed to help young people improve their job prospects.
More than 50,000 across Greater Manchester read it and it has more than 100 volunteers putting it together.
A registered charity, the magazine is being used to teach journalism and media skills to primary school children.
Cairn Newton-Evans
Cairn received a British Empire Medal for services to policing and the LGBT community in Wales.
He told Newsbeat: "I was speechless, absolutely in shock.
"The letter looks really important when it comes through the post, it says 'On Her Majesty's Service'.
"I was a bit apprehensive about opening it to be honest but then I felt so proud to have been recognised for the work I've done."
Needing surgery after a homophobic attack, the 27-year-old felt let down by the police and so decided to set-up an LGBT support group and became a special constable in the town where he was attacked.
"Knowing that people saw me getting attacked and nobody phoned the police or for an ambulance meant I lost confidence in my local community," he said.
"The way the attack was dealt with meant I lost confidence in the police service too.
"I had massive anxiety issues, I was scared to leave the house on my own, it had a big impact on my mental health.
"By joining the police I wanted to turn a negative experience into a positive one, and try to make sure no one else went through what I did."
James Alexander Threlfall
Twenty-five-year-old James was awarded an MBE for services to young people in Wiltshire.
He set up and organises the Wiltshire Skate Series, a local skateboarding competition for the community's benefit.
There have been nearly 30 events to date with James sorting out serious commercial sponsors and partners.
He's also an ambassador for the mental health charity CALM.
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The introduction of a way to use real money to buy virtual cash for World of Warcraft has prompted a big change in the value of the game's gold.
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The exchange rate for dollars fell by almost a third on the first day that Blizzard let people swap real cash for game gold.
At launch, players could spend $20 (£13) to get 30,000 gold coins to spend on gear in the fantasy game world.
But 24 hours later the same amount of cash netted players about 20,000.
Before now the only way that World of Warcraft players could artificially boost the fortunes of their characters was by visiting a grey-market site and surreptitiously buying gold from unlicensed vendors.
Fell sharply
The practice was fraught with peril because it was technically a violation of the WoW terms and conditions. Anyone caught buying gold this way could have their account closed down.
Late last year Blizzard announced plans to introduce a $20 "game time token" that could be converted into WoW's internal currency. Currently only North American players of WoW can buy the token.
The tokens can be traded on the game's internal auction house for gold - effectively giving people a way to turn real money into virtual cash. Those with lots of WoW gold can buy the token and use it to pay for their subscription to the online game.
The token trading system went live on 8 April and initially the exchange rate for each one climbed past the 30,000 starting point. But within hours the dollar exchange rates fell sharply and are now hovering around 22,000 for $20.
Some speculated that the dollar exchange rate would fall further to reach those seen on grey-market sources of WoW gold, which currently offer 10,000 to 15,000 coins for $20.
'Lot of fluctuation'
Before the launch Blizzard said the exchange rate for tokens would be set by internal game metrics.
Alec Meer, of the game news site Rock, Paper, Shotgun, told the BBC that there had been some initial "overreaction" to the drop in value of each token.
"It doesn't spell doom," he said. "Blizzard is trialling something new. They went in high to see what would happen, and there's going to be a whole lot of fluctuation as a game with a population of several million adapts to it.
"I'm sure the long-term plan is simply to bring more transactions within Blizzard's purview, and in doing so potentially reduce the influence of gold farmers and keep people playing for longer," he added.
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Plans to build England's tallest bridge across the River Wear in Sunderland are to be resubmitted to the government, despite a previous bid being shelved.
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The 590ft (180m) high and 1,102ft (336m) long structure would link Wessington Way on the north side of the river to Pallion New Road on the south.
But the Sunderland City Council plan fell foul of government spending cuts.
The Department for Transport said any revised plan would have to compete for a share of a £600m pot.
The previous Labour government had promised up to £98m of the costs. But the coalition government shelved the proposal in the spending review.
Sunderland City Council leader Paul Watson said he was hopeful that a resubmitted bid for cash would be successful.
He said: "We are cautiously optimistic that we have a good case although the criteria has slightly changed.
"The thing is that we don't just have to make a case for the bridge now, we have to make a case in competition with other bids around the country.
"Congestion will get worse and car ownership will rise, so this bridge becomes more and more important to the economy of the city and the wellbeing of its residents."
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The Suffolk village which inspired the BBC television series Lovejoy has seen three quarters of its antiques stores close.
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In the early 1980s there were about 20 antique businesses in Long Melford, mainly on the High Street.
That figure has dropped to five.
Antiques dealer Sandy Cooke said: "People just don't want to spend the money on expensive bits of furniture, older people are downsizing and the young people seem to want Ikea only."
Mr Cooke said he would be closing at the end of the year after 32 years in Long Melford.
Shrinking market
"Many years ago we had lots of foreign buyers as well as lots of serious English collectors," he said.
"The export market is non-existent."
Alex Lyall, of Lyall Antiques, said: "Every town and village in the country that sells antiques has also shrunk, so it's not unique to Long Melford."
The BBC series Lovejoy - featuring the exploits of the eponymous antique dealer, played by Ian McShane - ran from 1986 to 1994, had its production office based at The Bull in Long Melford and used locations in Suffolk and Essex.
Linda Goodban, clerk at Long Melford Parish Council, said: "It is a shame but in order to remain a sustainable community you have to change with what people are looking for.
"I think there are always people who remember Lovejoy because it was one of those programmes that caught the imagination.
"Visitors can still find the antiques shops, there's just not as many of them but they are still good and offer the same service and you can almost transfer yourself back into that era."
Mr Cooke said: "I'm not going to have any regrets, it's just unfortunate that the world's moved on and maybe I haven't and things have died in the trade.
"But I am going to miss the dealing."
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Bristol Airport has lodged a formal appeal after its plans for expansion were rejected.
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North Somerset Council refused the proposals which included increasing airport capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per year.
The airport said the plans set out a "sustainable vision for development over the next decade" and would create more than 1,000 new jobs.
Councillors had argued it would be harmful to the environment.
The authority said it would "defend its position vigorously during any appeal".
'Connect region to world'
The airport initially submitted proposals to boost passenger numbers in 2018.
In February, the application had about 8,800 objections from the public and 2,400 messages of support.
Current passenger numbers are almost nine million per year but airport bosses believe the expansion would stop millions of people from the region driving to London airports and increase its own numbers to 12 million per year.
Dave Lees, from Bristol Airport, said: "These plans are a practical step to ensuring we continue to connect our region to the world, providing a gateway for business, investment and tourists."
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The Education Authority has apologised to parents for how it has handled plans to cut hours for pupils in special school nurseries.
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MLAs from Stormont's education committee questioned officials on Wednesday.
It heard "serious reputational damage" was caused to the Education Authority by its "mishandling" of the plans.
Committee chair Barry McElduff said the authority should apologise to parents of affected pupils.
Chair of the Education Authority (EA), Sharon O'Connor, said she was "very sorry for the upset that parents are continuing to experience".
After the meeting, Ms O'Connor said: "On behalf of the Authority, I apologise unreservedly to parents who have been upset by the handling of this issue to date.
"I wish to assure them today that no long term changes to existing arrangements will be implemented in advance of the outcome of the review which will include a full consultation involving school principals, parents, early years' practitioners and other relevant stakeholders."
In March, the BBC revealed that the EA proposed to cut pre-school provision for all pupils in special school nurseries from 22.5 hours a week to 12.5 hours.
The cut would have affected disabled children in 14 special schools who currently offer full-time places.
That decision was criticised by the former education minister John O'Dowd, who ordered the EA to review it.
A number of MLAs expressed further criticisms at the committee hearing.
Vice-chair of the committee, Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, said he was unhappy at how the EA had consulted on its plans.
'Unacceptable'
"The approach has been unacceptable," he said.
"It has been inconsistent, it has been contradictory, evidentially disputed, and there has been wholly inadequate communication and engagement."
Sinn Féin MLA Catherine Seeley said she had "huge concerns" over the move to make all children attend special school nurseries for 2.5 hours a day.
"I don't think that is receptive to the different needs of different, individual children," she said.
The DUP's Lord Morrow also asked why it seemed Fleming Fulton school in Belfast had been "ignored" by the EA when they had offered to provide nursery accommodation in 2016.
"Let's hear what is going on and why Fleming Fulton has not got the treatment they feel that they deserve," he said.
Staff at Fleming Fulton had written to members of the committee claiming that, despite having capacity for 10 nursery places, their nursery had been "mothballed".
In response, the EA's chief executive Gavin Boyd said they would "re-engage" with the school.
"That has to be worked through," he said.
"It is not just a simple question of saying we're open for business again."
Last week, the EA announced that a review of its plans would take six months to complete.
In a letter to special school principals, it said it would not be going ahead with the original plan to cut hours in all schools until at least September 2017.
However, that suspension will not apply to six special schools which will see cuts to hours for nursery pupils from September 2016, due to what the EA has said are interim plans to meet demand.
EA officials told the committee that there was an unprecedented increase in demand for special school nursery places this year.
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New measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Blackburn with Darwen have been introduced after a spike in cases.
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For the next month, people living within the Lancashire authority must observe the rules in a bid to avoid a Leicester-style local lockdown.
The new measures include tighter limits on visitors from another household, and officials have called on people to bump elbows in place of handshakes and hugs.
Mass testing began at the weekend after 61 new cases sprang up within a week.
Lockdown 'real possibility'
Residents are being told to wear cloth face coverings in all enclosed public spaces, including workplaces, libraries, museums, health centres and hair and beauty salons.
Blackburn with Darwen's public health director, Prof Dominic Harrison, also called for people only to bump elbows with anyone outside their immediate family.
He said public protection advice for small shops was being stepped up to ensure social distancing was being observed.
Targeted testing is taking place in the borough, and residents have been told they do not need to have symptoms to be tested.
Prof Harrison said: "These steps will help and we are appealing to everyone in Blackburn with Darwen to follow them to protect themselves and their loved ones.
"If we don't, a local lockdown, like in Leicester, becomes a very real possibility."
He said increased testing would mean a "rise in the number of cases" in the next seven to 10 days.
If rates were continuing to rise after two weeks, he said, the authority would "have to consider reversing some of the national lockdown lifting measures locally".
This would be done "one by one until we see a reversal in the current rising trend," he said.
"It's up to everyone to make sure we don't have to do that."
He said there would also be "targeted work" after a rise in infections within the South Asian community - in particular "cluster infections" among families living in small terraced houses.
When "one person gets infected in a multi-generational household, all the household members are getting infected", Prof Harrison said.
How Blackburn with Darwen compares
Figures show Blackburn with Darwen recorded 47 new cases per 100,000 in the week ending Saturday, up from 31.6 the previous week.
In Leicester, where a local lockdown has been imposed, the rate has risen from 115 per 100,000 to 118 over the same period.
But this is still down from 152.2 in the seven days to 27 June.
Based on figures released on Tuesday, Pendle in Lancashire currently has England's second-highest rate of new cases for the week, rising from 14.2 per 100,000 to 76.6 in the week to 11 July.
Data obtained via NHS dashboard
Information videos are being produced in English, Urdu and Gujurati to spread the message in the former mill town.
Council leader Mohammed Khan said the authority was working to spread the message that "life cannot go back to normal just yet, and we must all make sacrifices to avoid a local lockdown".
"We are doing everything we can to get a grip on the virus, and we need everyone in Blackburn with Darwen to pull together to help us," he said.
"Please continue to do your bit to stick to the rules to protect yourself and your family."
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]
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An opposition political party in Sri Lanka has launched a campaign to abolish the executive presidency.
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The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) urges President Mahinda Rajapaksa to honour a pledge given to the party in 2005 and not
to call for another presidential election.
Mr. Rajapaksa, then the prime minister, signed a 12-point agreement with the JVP in September 2005.
“The Executive Presidential System being most destructive and harmful to the democracy of Sri Lanka and having accepted its
abolition as an essential priority task, it is hereby agreed to terminate the Executive Presidential System before the end
of the tenure of office of the 6th Executive President which is to be commenced from the year 2005,” the relevant paragraph
in the agreement said.
Leafleting campaign
The JVP in return supported his bid to become Sri Lanka’s executive president in November 2005.
President Rajapaksa has since implemented many points agreed with the JVP.
JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva told BBC Sandeshaya that the party urges the president to honour his pledge related to
abolishing the very powerful post.
“It is the responsibility of Mr. Rajapaksa to honour that pledge. It is also in line with his Mahinda Chintana policy,” he
said.
He vowed to continue leafleting campaign ‘until the executive presidency is abolished’.
The executive presidency was introduced in Sri Lanka by the United National Party (UNP) led government in 1978.
The JVP that regularly opposed the very powerful post also supported the tenure of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga.
The main opposition, UNP, and some minority parties that supported the post from the beginning are appear to be changing their
policy.
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Donald Trump has said he will visit Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia in his first foreign trip as US president.
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Mr Trump will travel overseas in late May before heading to Brussels for a Nato meeting and a G7 summit in Sicily.
The news comes a day after Mr Trump hosted Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, where he promised to facilitate a peace deal with Israel.
The trip is meant to signify Mr Trump's tour of capitals of three major monotheistic religions.
"Tolerance is the cornerstone of peace," Mr Trump said on Thursday in a National Day of Prayer address to religious leaders in the White House Rose Garden.
"That is why I am proud to make a major and historic announcement this morning and share with you that my first foreign trip as president will be to Saudi Arabia, then Israel, then the Vatican in Rome."
The announcement came the same day as Mr Trump signed an executive order to ease a ban on political endorsements by churches and religious groups.
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Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington
With visits planned to Saudi Arabia and Israel, including a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Donald Trump is plunging feet-first into the swirling waters of Middle East politics, where US presidents dating back to Harry Truman have struggled to stay afloat.
He thinks he's up to the task. "It's something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years," he said of Arab-Israeli negotiations during a White House meeting with Mr Abbas on Wednesday.
The trip could also allow the president to burnish his appeal to US political constituencies, including Jewish and evangelical voters with his Israel stop, and Catholics through his planned audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. During the Republican presidential primary campaign, Mr Trump accused the pontiff of questioning his faith, which he called "disgraceful".
Foreign trips can often prove a challenge for even the most experienced politician - fraught with diplomatic pitfalls and unintended consequences. Mr Trump, with his propensity for damaging off-script comments and actions, could have opted for a less challenging destination for his first trip abroad.
Instead, he will sink or swim.
Mr Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February and met Saudi Arabia's powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March in Washington.
But the president has previously clashed with Pope Francis over his anti-immigration rhetoric during the presidential campaign.
During a visit to Mexico, the pontiff said of Mr Trump: "A person who thinks only about building walls... and not building bridges, is not Christian."
Mr Trump called the pope's remarks "disgraceful", but later walked back his comments, saying the Pope was "misinformed".
But the two appeared to make amends after Mr Trump was elected, when Pope Francis sent him a letter wishing him well.
He told the newly inaugurated president he prayed "that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation's commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide".
Mr Trump will conclude his first foreign swing abroad with a Nato meeting in Belgium on 25 May and a stop in Sicily for the G7 summit the following day.
The president, who campaigned on an "America First" platform, has avoided travel abroad in his first months in office.
Former President Barack Obama had already taken three foreign trips at this point, visiting a total of nine foreign countries.
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Until now, George Clooney has been a silver fox who has largely stuck to the silver screen.
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By Steven McIntoshEntertainment reporter
Despite originally making his name in the 1990s medical drama ER, the last two decades have seen him stick to box office smashes like Gravity and Ocean's Eleven.
The very few TV appearances he has made have been for live TV specials or cameo appearances, but for his latest project, Clooney is tackling something much bigger - Catch 22.
A new adaptation of Joseph Heller's 1961 classic satirical novel is about to hit screens, with Clooney not only one of the stars, but also a director and executive producer.
The actor has joined a string of big-screen names - like Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon - in moving to the small screen for his latest venture.
"George Clooney has come to TV for a reason," writes Daniel D'Addario in Variety. "It's a way to surmount a tricky piece of the American literary canon, but to do so with the benefit of six hours and streaming-service money."
Clooney himself acknowledges streaming offered a way of telling the story which released him from the constraints of film.
"A lot of the type of stories that I like to tell don't involve superheroes," he tells BBC News.
"So it's not such a bad thing to be able to do these kinds of stories on streaming services, so it's great.
"I read [Catch-22] 40 years ago… when I was just born!" he jokes, "and I just remember it being a very special book. I didn't remember that much about it, but then the screenplay came around and I thought it was great, just a fantastic story."
Is his ultimate goal that viewers will be inclined to read Heller's literary original?
"If you ever do anything that encourages people to read, that's probably a good idea, because that doesn't happen very often," Clooney replies.
"Why read when there's such good television out there?!"
What is a Catch 22?
While Catch 22 is the title of a Joseph Heller novel first and foremost, its meaning has taken on a life of its own in the English language.
The catch occurs when all your options in a situation lead to the same frustrating outcome. Whatever you do, you cannot win.
In Heller's book, an American World War Two bombardier called Yossarian was caught in the original Catch 22.
Stationed in Italy and afraid of being shot down, he wanted to be declared insane so he could be sent home.
But military rules said fear of death was a rational response, so anyone who asked to be grounded could not possibly be truly crazy. And those who were insane would not request to be sent home in the first place, as they wouldn't fear the danger. Therefore, effectively no-one could be sent home.
The 1970 film adaptation of Catch 22, directed by Mike Nichols, received a mixed response from audiences and critics.
Many felt that tackling such a towering work of literature in two hours was an almost impossible task.
"The truth is, the book is a big, sprawling, beautiful mess of a book," director and star of the series Grant Heslov tells BBC News.
"And I think Mike Nichols would tell you, two hours is not enough time to tell that story. So for us, we got the chance to really delve into the arcs of all the major characters, and you just couldn't do that in a film."
In particular, the complex lead character of Yossarian, played here by Christopher Abbott, is given plenty of time to breathe in this iteration.
"We wanted to get the best actors we possibly could for the project," Clooney explains.
"But," he adds with perfect comic timing, "we couldn't afford them, so we got these guys.
"And Hugh [Laurie] did us a favour," he says of the project's other big name. "We're part of a fraternity, we played doctors."
Laurie (famous for playing a doctor on House as Clooney was for doing on ER), is similarly good-humoured about accepting the offer to star in the project.
"When the emperor sends a signal across the water, you drop whatever it is you're doing and answer the call," he says.
"If what you're doing happens to be nothing, it's a little bit easier."
Laurie plays Major de Coverley in Catch 22 - an adaptation that has gone down broadly well with critics.
"Catch 22 is an almost perfect series," wrote Merrill Barr in Forbes.
"Every actor is bringing their A-game to the table and the writing is absolutely top-notch.
"And thanks to its short episode order, the series is also going to serve as a brisk ride that won't soon be forgotten by those that choose to hop on."
Writing in Vulture, Matt Zoller Seitz said: "It works better as a TV show than you might think, though not well enough to quell the feeling that we have yet to see an adaptation as scathing as the source material."
But, said Mike Hale of The New York Times: "Apparently the Catch 22 of Catch 22 is that to put it on screen, you have to eviscerate it.
"If you aren't particularly attached to the book, and if you have a taste for World War Two melodramas with lots of big-band music on the soundtrack, then this Catch 22 may suit you fine."
He added the decision to tell the story in chronological order of the book "has the effect of diminishing Yossarian".
"The result is that for most of the series, Yossarian just seems petulant and whiny - instead of living inside his breakdown, as you do in the book, you wait for it to finally arrive."
Speaking about how he began the process of adapting the book for the screen, co-writer Luke Davies jokes: "I started with fear, pain and anxiety.
"Just trying to work out how to wrestle it into shape, it's such a massive, dense novel. So I started with whiteboards."
Producer and director Ellen Kuras explains the classic novel "was required reading in American high schools.
"I remember it as something that was rambling. It was thematic but at the same time it was hard to follow."
Indeed, when it came to studying the source material in preparation for her role as Nurse Duckett, Tessa Ferrer turned to more modern technology to help digest it.
"I went back and forth listening to it as an audiobook and reading it on Kindle, so I could get it done in a timely manner!
We ask all the cast and creatives what it was like working with Clooney, and all say he was a total delight. Well, almost all.
"It's terrible. He's miserable, he complains a lot, he is without any charm whatsoever," jokes executive producer Richard Brown.
"He's not even good looking! All of it's a lie."
Catch 22 begins on Thursday 20 June at 21:00 BST on Channel 4.
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Three Coldstream Guards are being investigated by police after they were reportedly involved in a fight with the Queen's footmen.
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Two men, aged 20 and 21, were taken to hospital after the incident at the Greenwood Sports Pub on Victoria Street, Westminster, on 24 July.
The victims' injuries were not life threatening, police said.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the guardsmen were being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
The altercation was said to have happened about 800m from Buckingham Palace as a group of royal footmen were attending leaving drinks.
The Coldstream Guards have a ceremonial role as protectors of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
It is the oldest continuously serving regiment in the British Army and is based at Victoria Barracks in Windsor, west of London.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that three guards are being investigated by the Met Police following the incident in London on 24 July."
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Dredging on the Somerset Levels has made a "real difference" in preventing flooding, a campaign group has claimed.
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Last year, the Environment Agency dredged five miles (8 km) of the rivers Parrett and Tone at a cost of £6m.
As a result, the river Parrett levels in Langport this winter dropped much faster than in previous years, the Levels and Moors Taskforce said.
But, academics have said other action is needed like sluice gates to stop silt from coastal tides building up.
Professor of water engineering, Roger Falconer from Cardiff University suggested a sluice gate being installed at Moorland would be effective.
"I would put in pumps there as well - not only would you remove the silt coming from downstream but it will also provide flood storage," he said.
'Pretty dry winter'
He also believes climate change and rising sea levels would affect long-term dredging, carried out by the Environment Agency (EA) on behalf of the Somerset Rivers Authority.
Anthony Gibson, chairman of the taskforce, said despite a "pretty dry winter", there were still two floods in November and January.
"[But] the river level dropped much faster than it has done in previous years, which suggests the dredging has made a real difference."
He also said water storage needed increasing in the upper catchment areas.
Ian Withers, of the EA, said: "It's absolutely critical that maintenance dredging continues.
"We have no money to do that, so it's very important for the Somerset Rivers Authority to find future sources of funding."
The agency said it was working with the government "to find a long-term sustainable funding solution for the years beyond 2015/16", as no long-term fund was in place for dredging.
Related Internet Links
20 Year Flood Action Plan - Somerset County Council Newsroom
Environment Agency - GOV.UK
Somerset Rivers Authority
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What do you do with an old hard disk drive, the kind that still spins up inside most PCs, once it reaches the end of its life?
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By Nell MackenzieBusiness reporter
If Allan Walton has his way, parts of it could soon be propelling your next car along the road, assuming you go electric.
The University of Birmingham professor is a director in the firm Hypromag, which extracts and recycles neodymium magnets from used hard disks.
Neodymium is a rare earth metal - chemical elements considered essential ingredients in many of today’s must-have technologies, from smartphones to TV screens. Neodymium is used, among other things, to make magnets that turn the motors that drive electric vehicles.
Prof Walton believes that in the next 10 years, his company could be recycling enough neodymium to meet a quarter of the UK’s demand - almost all of which is currently imported from China.
Once electric vehicles are assembled and running, they are broadly seen as being more environmentally friendly than cars with an internal combustion engine. But making magnets from rare earths is far from green.
Though processes needed to refine rare earths use many of the same chemicals found in oven cleaners and cosmetics, their waste can be destructive if not properly controlled.
At one mining site, Bayan Obo in Inner Mongolia, they have contributed to a vast toxic lake.
Next to the mine itself is a tailing dam, a reservoir created by what is left over from separating rare earths.
Steel and aluminium already have large established recycling programmes which help to reduce chemical processing.
However, rare earth minerals used in phones, hard drives and old wind turbines are generally lost.
Four years ago at the University of Birmingham, Prof Walton and his mentor, Prof Rex Harris, discovered that running hydrogen gas through old hard-disk drives turns the magnets into powder which can be harvested, re-packed and coated, to become new magnets.
Not only will the project offer a greener solution to the rare earths market, the global demand for these minerals means there is a business case to be built.
“We are missing a trick. There is no trouble finding rare earths, it’s the processing them into a useful material, like a magnet,” says Prof Walton.
This year, Hypromag expects to announce a deal with the UK car company Bentley.
It has received a £2.6m grant from Innovate UK and a half a million pounds of investment and further partnership from an African junior mine, Mkango.
However, the Hypromag solution will only meet a fraction of the growing demand for rare earths, which analysts estimate will double by 2025.
Prof Walton believes that if Britain acts now and creates a scaled-up rare earths recycling industry, it could become a world leader.
The opportunity is huge, with many emerging technologies such as 5G demanding rare earths, on top of the growing need for established technologies such as phone handsets, microprocessors and wind turbines.
However, the main reason rare earths have been compared to oil, is government policies that will fuel the demand for electric vehicles.
After 2025, the Netherlands will not sell petrol or diesel cars. The UK and France have pledged to meet this goal by 2040. This year, China aims for 12% of cars sold in the country to produce zero emissions.
When it comes to the production of rare earths and magnets made from them, China is the world leader.
The country corners the market because its companies can mine rare earths and process them locally into finished products. More than 70% of rare earth products are exported by China.
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The country corners the market because it is the only place in the world with companies that can make rare earth minerals into finished products. More than 70% of rare earth products are exported by China.
And, its established supply chain offers them unmatchable discounts.
Rare earths are part of the Made in China 2025 plan to become the world’s leading manufacturer.
But while China exports processed products, the country’s natural resources are not rich in heavier types of rare earth that are most in demand, like the neodymium used for car magnets.
China gets most of its neodymium from Burma and the United States, says Christopher Ecclestone, a mining strategist at Hallgarten.
The Mountain Pass mine in California sells 100% of its rare earths in a concentrated form to China - and is part-owned by Chinese firm Shenghe Resources, which has a 9.9% stake.
“The US is one of China’s largest sources of rare earths and the Chinese are taking it for a song. It drives the Pentagon crazy,” he says.
What put China in control of the market was that rare earths were a by-product of already established mines, says Ian Higgins, the director of Less Common Metals in Ellesmere Port near Liverpool.
Other rare earth metals and their uses
Mr Higgins's firm is one of the only manufacturers outside of China to make and combine rare earth metals into alloys.
He points out that Chinese mines are supported by government subsidies and opaque accounting practices.
While environmental policy in China has improved, the largest mines were built before their implementation.
“There is a lot of processing of rare earths which is horrific and there is also a lot of black and grey market smuggling of heavier rare earths.” says Mr Higgins.
However, he adds that the country is beginning to wake up to the environmental impact of its rare earths industry.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused global assembly lines to grind to a halt. But it has also spurred manufacturers who use rare earths to question the global supply chain and their reliance on a single source country.
The crisis has pushed governments and businesses to "localise resources,", according to Andrew Bloodworth a director at the British Geological Survey.
“People like me tell our government that any production that is concentrated in small places will be vulnerable to disruption,” says Mr Bloodworth.
America, the UK and Europe are trying to build supply chains for rare earths outside of China.
On 13 May, legislation was put before US legislators, aimed at giving tax breaks to the industry - $50m in funding was also earmarked for start-up mines in the US.
In the EU, the Horizon 2020 fund has launched an initiative to build a supply chain across several European and Nordic countries, including Britain.
In the UK, rare earths are integral to the government’s industrial strategy, according to Jeff Townsend, who this year set up a lobbying firm to represent the industry’s interests.
“Government needs to understand and do more than set out a grand vision of an industrial strategy. It needs to get its hands dirty and provide the supply chain,” he says.
“Covid has knocked everyone sideways and lots of people are looking again at the way we do things,” says Mr Townsend.
He adds: “If we make the decision that we want to be better, then we have to try to be better because that’s the only way we change society.”
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Algerian singer Hamid Cheriet, better known as Idir, has died in France at the age of 70.
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The tireless champion of the Kabyle and Berber cultures died of pulmonary disease.
Idir became internationally famous with his lullaby "Vava Inouva" in the 1970s and made a comeback in 1993.
In a tribute to the singer, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called him an icon of Algerian art and said: "Algeria loses one of its monuments".
A post on his official Facebook page announced the death.
"We regret to announce the passing of our father (to all), Idir on Saturday 2 May at 2130. Rest in peace dad," it read.
Idir grew up surrounded by the songs and rhythms of the Kabyle people but was studying to become a geologist until a chance appearance on state radio in 1973.
He stepped in at the last moment for another singer and his performance was widely praised.
A recording career, however, had to wait until he had completed his military service.
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A Japanese telecoms company is carrying out tests to try to prove 4K-resolution video can be streamed over the internet to television set-top boxes.
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NTT West is hosting the trial - which runs until Friday - and says it believes it is the first of its kind.
A new video compression standard is being used to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted.
4K broadcasts offer four times the amount of detail as 1080p high-definition content.
Compressing technologies allow broadcasters to transmit material using much less data than would otherwise be required while minimising the loss of picture quality.
With regard to video, instead of sending data describing each pixel of each frame as if it were a standalone entity, a variety of algorithms are used to analyse how colour is distributed across each image and what changes occur between each frame.
This is then used to allow redundant information to be discarded, providing instead only the information needed to reconstruct a sequence based on an understanding of how each pixel and frame are related to each other.
At present the H.264/MPEG-4 codec is commonly used to broadcast digital TV - including the UK's Freeview HD and Sky HD satellite services - as well as the vast majority of video clips on the web.
In January the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency, approved a new format to succeed it called the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard.
It allows 4K and 1080p videos to be streamed using roughly half the bit rate, meaning half as much data needs to be transmitted, thanks to the use of more advanced algorithms.
The ITU said it should meet the needs of broadcasters for "the next decade".
Although 4K ultra-high-definition televisions are already on the market, content is scarce and most owners have relied on the sets' ability to upscale existing HD signals.
Japan plans to become the first country to broadcast 4K programming over satellite from 2014, in time for the football World Cup.
But the ability to stream ultra-high-definition video over the net would open the door to other services.
"The logical consequence would be that this technology could be used by firms like Netflix to start offering limited premium 4K video subscription packages with higher-definition movies and shows to compete with the traditional pay-TV operators," said Jon Payne, broadband analyst at consultants IHS.
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Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she is not "rushing towards" another Scottish independence referendum.
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The SNP leader announced on Thursday that a bill beginning a consultation on a second independence vote would be published next week.
In a BBC interview she promised to explore all options short of independence that would maintain Scotland's place in the single market.
But, if that fails, she said Scots had a right to consider a "different path".
In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, in which a majority of Scots backed Remain, the first minister said another independence vote was "highly likely".
During her address to the SNP conference on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon drew loud applause when she revealed an Independence Referendum Bill would be published next week - the first step on the road towards holding another independence vote.
She told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that 300,000 Scottish jobs were dependent on maintaining Scotland's place in the single market following the Brexit vote.
Ms Sturgeon said detailed proposals that might safeguard Scotland's access to the single market would be published in the next few weeks.
She said: "There are options - for example the kind of option that Norway has. I was in Iceland at the weekend - [the option] that Iceland has of being in the single market but not in the European Union.
"Is that as good as full EU membership? In my view, no it's not. One of the downsides of it is that you have to abide by the rules without influencing the rules - but is it better than being outside the single market completely. Emphatically yes."
She said she hoped her proposals on access to the single market would guide Theresa May's Brexit negotiations.
"There is an ability to be creative and to look at different options that respect how different parts of the UK voted," she said.
"I think there are ways that can be done. I don't pretend - and I have never since the referendum - pretended that it would be straightforward or without challenges and maybe we will find that none of these ways are possible and independence is the only option for Scotland to pursue.
"But we will try very hard to put other options on the table and hope Theresa May will consider them."
'I am not rushing'
She denied that her talk of a second independence vote was "playing to the gallery" or going on a "war footing".
"I didn't ask to be in this position but I have to deal with the situation that exists and I have to do what I can to protect Scotland," she said.
"I am not rushing towards another independence referendum. I have set out very clearly the steps we'll take within the UK to try to protect Scotland - but if that doesn't work I don't think I've got the right to deny Scotland the chance to look at a different path."
Ms Sturgeon also said she though it "inconceivable" that the UK government would try to block a second independence vote if it was backed by the Scottish Parliament.
"I've noted that the prime minister has been at pains to avoid saying that that's what she would do," she said.
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Low-cost smartphones and cheap mobile data mean Indians are now hungrily consuming content over the small screen. And this is opening up a new world of creative freedom for the country's entertainment industry.
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By Yogita LimayeMumbai correspondent, BBC News
Film director Krishna Bhatt says the internet has given her "the power to show exactly the story I want to tell".
She has made two web-based shows. One of them, Maaya 2, centres around a lesbian love story - a subject that would have been very difficult to get into cinemas or on television in India.
"To show lovemaking in a theatre I will have to go through 10,000 censor rules," says Ms Bhatt.
"My kisses will get cut based on very stupid things. You're not allowed to show something like that even on TV."
While films and television series are governed by strict censorship rules in India, web-based shows have been largely unregulated - so far at least.
"If you can give everything you want to give without anybody breathing down your neck, it's like a new sense of freedom, it's like independence," says Ms Bhatt.
"That's what digital does for you."
Indian prime-time TV is largely dominated by family dramas that often go on for years, featuring thousands of episodes.
This not only limits opportunities for other shows to get on air, but also restricts the kind of stories that can be told.
So actors, writers and directors are enjoying new-found freedoms that online gives them.
At Chandivali Studio in north Mumbai, for example, they're filming a Hindi language show called Apharan (Kidnapping).
It will be a long day - filming began early in the morning and will go on until late in the evening. The race is on to complete the 11 episodes that are scheduled for release in November over ALTBalaji, a web-based video-on-demand platform available in 96 countries.
On an open-air set, built to look like a street market in a small Indian town, Arunoday Singh is playing the lead character in a plot about a former policeman caught in a kidnapping gone wrong.
He has appeared in several mainstream Bollywood movies, but always in smaller roles.
"I've gotten a bit pigeonholed in the Bollywood system for the last four to five years," he says. "I didn't become a big star, but neither am I unknown.
"So casting directors feel like they know what I'm capable of and they don't even give me an audition."
Online entertainment has opened new doors for him.
Apharan is just one of dozens of web series being made in India this year, as focus has turned to the opportunities presented by web-based entertainment.
"For actors, for writers especially, there's a lot more opportunity now, which is always nice, because it's a very cut-throat kind of a business," says Mr Singh.
Foreign companies see the potential as well, with Netflix and Amazon investing heavily in the Indian market.
But how do any of them hope to make money?
In a mass market like India, where there are more than 300 million smartphone users, subscriptions could be a big revenue source.
"Unlike television, digital is an over-the-top or OTT business, which means it eliminates the distributor or the middle man," says Nachiket Pantvaidya, chief executive of ALTBalaji.
"So you get the entire amount that a viewer pays to subscribe to your content. That is something that is really attractive about the digital business for content producers."
ALTBalaji hopes to reach as many as 200 million viewers. But there are many challenges - getting the pricing right is one of them.
"What is extremely important is that we want to keep our net pricing to the consumer at less than a rupee a day (1p; 1.4 cents)," says Mr Pantvaidya.
"I think that's the point at which individuals will buy into this phenomenon."
Then, it's about making the right content.
"Ninety-five per cent of Indian homes have only one television, so individual choice is restricted. We are not catering to someone who's dropped off television. We are catering to a person who likes to watch something different when he or she is watching it with their family, and something different when the consumption is individual," Mr Pantvaidya explains.
"To define that content and to target it has been a challenge."
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But this boom depends heavily on mobile data rates remaining low in India.
That's the result of an intense price war in the country's consolidating telecoms industry, with companies like Vodafone Idea, Airtel, Jio and BSNL, fighting hard to attract subscribers. No-one is quite sure how long the mobile operators will be able to sustain such low prices.
But while they do, web-based entertainment continues to give hope to the tens of thousands of actors, directors and writers waiting around in Mumbai for their big break.
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Calls to ban tenancy fees by letting agents in Wales have been made in the Senedd by opposition AMs.
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The Welsh Government has faced criticism that it is lagging behind after the UK government announced it would ban the fees.
UKIP held a debate on the issue on Wednesday, where Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives also called for the fees to be abolished.
The Welsh Government said it was considering evidence.
A proposal from ministers for a consultation with other assembly parties looks likely to get more support.
Plaid Cymru has criticised Labour for not banning the fees at an earlier opportunity. First Minister Carwyn Jones said he was actively considering banning them.
Labour AM Jenny Rathbone, who also spoke in the debate, has previously said she would consider a private members bill to abolish the fees if the government does not act.
Gareth Bennett, UKIP AM for South Wales Central who led a debate on the issue in the Senedd on Wednesday, said: "It's absolutely unacceptable that Wales lags behind the rest of the United Kingdom when it comes to these huge fees.
"The Welsh Government need to take urgent steps to protect tenants and make it easier for people to rent their own home."
Plaid Cymru's Sian Gwenllian said: "We have always argued that these are punitive charges which should be scrapped at the earliest opportunity.
"Unfortunately, our efforts to do this with an amendment to the Renting Homes Bill last year was scuppered by Labour."
Ms Gwenllian told Wednesday's debate that the only party that had not committed to abolishing fees was Labour.
David Melding, for the Conservatives, said the fees should be abolished.
But Carl Sargeant, the communities secretary who is responsible for housing, said evidence was now emerging from the application of the ban in Scotland.
"We need to look very carefully at the evidence presented," he said, saying that although research from Shelter showed little impact, anecdotal evidence had suggested rent had gone up and that there were agents still charging tenants.
UKIP's motion in the debate called on the Welsh Government to bring forward legislation in this assembly term to ban renters' fees, ensuring costs cannot be passed on to tenants or private landlords.
However this was unsuccessful. Instead UKIP joined Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and the governing Labour group to pass a motion backing government calls to consult on a way forward, and consider how legislation might work in light of the evidence from Scotland.
A Welsh Government spokeswoman earlier said: "As the recent introduction of Rent Smart Wales demonstrates, the Welsh Government is committed to getting a fair deal for tenants.
"We have already said we are actively considering the evidence from Scotland following the ban there and we will be looking very closely at the proposals in England.
"We do not believe the proposed amendment last year was based on evidence or consultation and it contained no mechanism for enforcing the ban."
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Kent's police and crime commissioner may have been driving without insurance when she was involved in a crash, a police watchdog report has concluded .
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Ann Barnes crashed in September 2014, raising questions as to whether the journey was for business and if she was adequately insured.
Tuesday's report said there is evidence an offence may have been committed.
The report has now called for all police and crime commissioners to have valid insurance for business use.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation was sparked after Mrs Barnes's Mercedes was in collision with another car in Princes Road, Dartford, on 16 September 2014. Nobody was seriously hurt.
It said: "It is the investigator's opinion that there is evidence upon which the IPCC Commissioner could determine that an offence of using motor vehicle without insurance on 16 September 2014, contrary to The Road Traffic Act 1998, may have been committed by Mrs Barnes."
The IPCC said Mrs Barnes had visited the Kent Police Safety Shop at Bluewater shopping centre and was on her way to a meeting at Dartford Borough Council.
The report said Mrs Barnes was a named driver for a car insured and registered in her husband's name. She later produced a valid certificate which defined her insurance cover as "social, domestic and pleasure" including "to and from a permanent place of work".
It added insurers Oak Underwriting said it had not paid out under a commuting clause but because it was a non-fault claim.
In February, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was not in the public interest to prosecute.
Responding to the report, Mrs Barnes issued a statement which said: "This issue was dealt with last February when the CPS, having reviewed the evidence supplied by the IPCC, took the independent decision not to charge me.
"I have fully co-operated with the IPCC's lengthy investigation, and I am pleased that the matter has finally been resolved."
'PR disaster'
But Kent and Medway's Police and Crime Panel criticised the IPCC for taking 13 months to complete the report and the five months it took the watchdog to interview Mrs Barnes.
It said the time taken meant the CPS had to take a decision on prosecution without further investigation.
The process had damaged the PCC, her office, and the administration of justice, the panel said.
It said it had sought an assurance from Mrs Barnes that she had set up a system to ensure she and her staff regularly proved they were fully insured when driving on business.
Politicians have questioned Mrs Barnes's future.
South Thanet Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay said the IPCC report followed controversy over Mrs Barnes's youth commissioner appointments, a Channel 4 documentary, and her vehicle nicknamed Ann Force One.
He said: "It really doesn't end. She's the PCC that keeps on giving. Thankfully we've got elections next year. I don't know if she's considering standing. I hear she might be.
"The people of Kent will have a choice as to who they want to be a rather-more-competent PCC to represent them."
Medway Labour councillor Tristan Osborne has called for Mrs Barnes to be transparent about her intentions to stand again in May.
He said: "After four years of PR disasters, I think it's time she does think about that very closely."
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A court has denied an arrest warrant request for Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, after he was accused of accounting fraud and stock manipulation.
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The ruling provides at least temporary relief for the de facto head of the South Korean conglomerate.
But Mr Lee isn't completely in the clear yet as prosecutors said they will continue with their investigation.
The case relates to his alleged role in a 2017 political and business scandal that rocked South Korea.
Last week state prosecutors asked the court to issue an arrest warrant against Mr Lee related to their probe into accounting fraud and the controversial merger of two Samsung businesses, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, in 2015.
Prosecutors said the deal helped his plan to take greater control of the group.
On Friday Samsung denied the allegation of stock-manipulation against Mr Lee, saying it was "beyond common sense" to claim he was involved in the decision-making.
In another statement over the weekend, the group said the lengthy probe is weighing on management, which is in "crisis" at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and US-China trade war are adding to uncertainty.
Three top executives, including a vice president, have already been given prison sentences for hiding or destroying evidence in the probe.
Who is Lee Jae-yong?
The 51-year-old, also known as Jay Y Lee, is the son of Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest conglomerate. He is also the grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul.
With a degree from South Korea's top university and an MBA from one of Japan's most prestigious universities, he has been groomed to take over the family firm.
He became a Samsung president in 2009 and in 2013 was made vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, the division which makes devices including smartphones, televisions, cameras and hard drives.
Since Mr Lee's father suffered a heart attack in 2014, he has been considered the de facto boss of the entire Samsung group of businesses.
According to Forbes magazine, the divorced father-of-two has a net worth of around $6.6bn (£5.2bn).
What is the case about?
In February 2017, Lee Jae-yong was arrested and then charged over his alleged role in a political and corporate scandal linked to South Korea's then president, Park Geun-hye.
Charges against Mr Lee included bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury.
Samsung was accused of paying 43bn won ($35.7m; £28.1m) to two non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of Ms Park, in exchange for political support.
More specifically, the favours were alleged to include backing for a controversial Samsung merger which paved the way for Mr Lee to become the head of the conglomerate, a deal that needed support from South Korea's government-run national pension fund.
Mr Lee denied the charges. He admitted making donations but said Samsung did not want anything in return.
In August 2017 a court convicted him of the charges and sent him to prison for five years.
Six months later that sentence was halved, and the Seoul High Court decided to suspend the jail term, meaning he was free to go.
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The former Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, has taken charge of the European Commission, despite UK opposition.
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He got a solid majority among MEPs in a secret ballot - 422 votes - and the support of 26 out of 28 EU governments.
But British MEPs in particular - the UK Independence Party and the Conservatives - were vocal in their opposition to him.
Mr Juncker, 59, based his claim to the EU's top job on being the Spitzenkandidat (lead candidate) of the centre-right European People's Party, which won the May elections.
His election is seen as a triumph for the European Parliament, which pioneered the Spitzenkandidat procedure. It was an effort to make the European elections more relevant to voters and give the EU more of a "human face".
But UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the parliament had usurped the right of government leaders to choose the EU's top executive. In the past that choice was made behind closed doors, and by unanimity, without a formal vote.
Mr Juncker is a controversial figure, as a leading advocate of deeper EU integration, and is often called a "federalist".
A veteran of Brussels deal-making, he headed the powerful Eurogroup - the eurozone finance ministers - at the height of the eurozone crisis, when crucial decisions were taken about austerity and bailout conditions.
Force behind euro
In a speech setting out his agenda for the EU on 15 July he stressed that the euro "protects Europe" and he praised former Commission president Jacques Delors, the man credited with launching the single currency.
Mr Juncker was prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and one of the architects of the euro.
But according to Pierre Leyers, financial editor of the daily Luxemburger Wort, it is misleading to call him a "federalist". "He wants deeper integration, but not a European superstate," he told the BBC.
Mr Leyers argues that coming from a tiny country has enhanced Mr Juncker's influence in the EU, odd though that may seem to people unfamiliar with Brussels politics.
Luxembourg was a founding member of the community which became the EU and, sandwiched between France and Germany, "it had no choice but to try to be on good terms with its neighbours", Mr Leyers said. "So some Luxembourg politicians were always good negotiators and diplomats, to get France and Germany together."
The drive for post-war reconciliation shaped Mr Juncker's political views.
Early in his political career he worked for Prime Minister Pierre Werner, who helped to forge the Franco-German bond at the heart of the European project.
Mr Werner came up with a plan for monetary union which was later developed by Jacques Delors.
Mr Juncker went on to become one of the world's longest-serving democratically elected leaders.
Part of Brussels elite
But some of his past remarks have raised eyebrows, suggesting a less than firm commitment to democracy.
Ahead of the French vote on the European Constitution in 2005 he said: "If it's a Yes, we will say 'on we go', and if it's a No we will say 'we continue'".
And in 2011 he said "monetary policy is a serious issue - we should discuss this in secret, in the Eurogroup... I am for secret, dark debates".
His greatest EU challenge has been shoring up the eurozone since the 2008 financial crash, when Greece's colossal debts, and those of other struggling eurozone countries, threatened the very survival of the single currency.
In a high-profile TV debate on 15 May Mr Juncker said he had worked "night and day" to rescue Greece.
According to Mr Leyers, at the height of the crisis he was working 14 hours a day and that took a toll on his health. He is a heavy smoker.
He is by far the most popular politician in Luxembourg, added the journalist at the Grand Duchy's leading daily.
In the TV debate, Mr Juncker said it was now time for the EU to "replace debt by ideas" and achieve a digital single market, while ensuring "minimum social standards for workers".
He also called for an EU-US free trade treaty. The negotiations are controversial, amid widespread European anxiety about powerful US corporations.
'Social' Europe
Mr Juncker is a strong advocate of a European "solidarity" union - an EU that strives to raise living standards in its poorest regions and sectors.
He has not explained how an EU-US free trade deal might impact on EU social protection policies, which currently cost the EU many billions through support for farmers and projects to help poor communities.
He claimed that such a deal would give each European an extra 545 euros (£443; $742) - an exaggeration, according to a fact check by Eurovision, which hosted the debate.
He has also defended the Common Agricultural Policy, saying agriculture employs about 30 million Europeans. But the UK government is among the many critics who say the CAP is wasteful and want more of the EU budget spent on digital technologies, research and investment in small businesses.
Mats Persson, director of the Open Europe think-tank, says Mr Juncker is associated with the EU of the 1980s and 1990s, echoing a criticism attributed to Prime Minister Cameron.
After an election that saw a surge in support for Eurosceptic parties, that connection with past EU policies may be a disadvantage, Mr Persson told the BBC.
However, Mr Juncker is not vague about the political risks of taking tough economic decisions. He once said, "We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after we've done it."
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The UN has accused security forces in Myanmar of committing serious human rights abuses, including gang-rape, savage beatings and child killing.
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It made the allegations in a damning report compiled after interviews with more than 200 Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
One mother recounted how her five-year-old daughter was murdered while trying to protect her from rape.
She said a man "took out a long knife and killed her by slitting her throat".
In another case, an eight-month-old baby was reportedly killed while five security officers gang-raped his mother.
An estimated 65,000 members of the Muslim minority community have fled to Bangladesh since violence broke out in Myanmar - also known as Burma - last October.
Nearly half of those interviewed by the UN said a family member had been killed. Of 101 women interviewed, 52 said they had been raped or experienced sexual violence from the security forces.
Many told investigators that members of the army or police had burned hundreds of Rohingya homes, schools, markets, shops, and mosques.
Numerous testimonies "confirmed that the army deliberately set fire to houses with families inside, and in other cases pushed Rohingyas into already burning houses", the report states.
Many victims said they were taunted as they were being beaten or raped, with the perpetrators telling them: "What can your Allah do for you? See what we can do?"
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said: "The cruelty to which these Rohingya children have been subjected is unbearable - what kind of hatred could make a man stab a baby crying out for his mother's milk?
"I call on the international community, with all its strength, to join me in urging the leadership in Myanmar to bring such military operations to an end."
The country's government and its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi have previously dismissed claims of rights abuses and insisted that the security forces follow the rule of law.
However, Ms Suu Kyi's spokesman told the BBC that the latest allegations were extremely serious. The spokesman said officials would look into them immediately.
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Two arrests have been made as part of a murder probe into the death of a man whose body was discovered in a river.
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Sol Hemy, 20, was found dead at Riverside Park, Southampton, on 5 September, a few hours after police were called to reports of gun shots.
Hampshire police said a 28-year-old man from Southampton had been re-arrested on suspicion of murder.
A 32-year-old man from Winchester has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Both men are in custody.
The gunfire was reported in River Walk, a road beside the park, at 01:00 BST.
Police said they discovered 100 cannabis plants at an unoccupied address on the road a short time later.
A large amount of the drug was also discovered in a Jeep Cherokee in the park.
Mr Hemy, from Sholing, was found in the water at 06:30.
He had not been shot and his death was being treated as unexplained, police previously said.
Detectives said they were keeping an "open mind" about whether the incidents were linked.
Related Internet Links
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When Foals began to write material for their third album there were just a couple of rules.
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By Greg CochraneNewsbeat music reporter
"There were two things we didn't want to do," recalls frontman Yannis Philappakis.
"One was not do a record which was exactly like [2008's] Antidotes. The other was not to do one which was exactly like [2010's] Total Life Forever.
"We have an internal motor which means we don't want to do the things which are prior," he smiles.
Holy Fire
True to their word, that's what they've done on Holy Fire - which is currently top of the midweek album chart (12 February).
It sees the Oxford group exploring new musical territory, but also threatens to catapult them to the attention of a much wider audience.
The first hint of change arrived late 2012 with the release of Inhaler - a melodic track built around a hulking, huge guitar riff.
"It just feels good to do from the neck down," explains Philappakis, about their heavier slant.
"Me and Jack Bevan [drums] were in a band when we were younger. It was heavy riffs all the way through - we hadn't explored it for such a long time that it became interesting again.
"The heavier bands which I grew up listening to were like Slayer, Deftones, Tool, Black Sabbath. Obviously Rage [Against The Machine], everyone loves Rage."
It's not a complete make-over for the band but it is an evolution. Reviews of Holy Fire have focussed on Foals' continuous rise.
BBC Music's review said "arena tours should await them", while NME called it "sharp, emotive, massive".
Ambition
Yannis admits back when the band were touring in a recycled Royal Mail van "playing to no-one" they didn't think six years down the line they'd be playing the main stage at Reading festival.
"The more people we get to play to, the more of a connection," he says. "It's all the sweeter because it didn't happen instantly."
Indeed, since forming the Oxford band have gone from playing sweaty squat parties to headlining London's Royal Albert Hall via a Mercury Prize nomination and numerous world tours.
"There's something to be said for taking your time and earning those sorts of things rather them them just falling in your lap on day one," smiles Yannis.
"We really are locked into the day-to-day, there's probably a really frightening lack of forethought," he says, playing down their ambition.
Side projects
What's clear though, whether they planned it or not Foals are about to get a whole lot bigger. And the band's ambitions are getting broader.
"I'd love to [do] a film soundtrack - I'm sure Jimmy [Smith, guitar] would as well," explains the singer.
"At some point, probably in the not too distance future, we are going to start doing things on the side largely to satisfy creative impulses which we can't satisfy with Foals.
"There are definitely certain things I would like to do which would shock, terrify and scar a lot of Foals fans."
Holy Fire is out now
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Eagle-eyed film fans have noticed that Russian national symbols have gone missing from the Russian-language trailer for the forthcoming Captain America film.
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Altered ImagesQuestioning whether cameras never lie
The opening scene of the promotional clip - already viewed 13m times since it was released yesterday - for Marvel's Captain America: Civil War film shows a Russian guard turning a key which opens a pair of huge doors in a prison facility holding the Captain's adversary, The Winter Soldier. Clearly in shot on the guard's sleeve is a badge with the Russian flag and the word "Russia", as featured on the uniforms of all Russian police and security personnel. But as popular radio station Ekho Moskvy reports on its "Video of the Day" section, the Russian-dubbed version of the clip shows the badge, but with the flag and "Russia" airbrushed out.
The change has also been noticed by the Russian Gazeta news website, which also points out that the film is being marketed under a different name in the country - The First Avenger: Confrontation.
However, the airbrushing of Russian symbols doesn't appear to be much of an issue for the 1.2 million people who have viewed the Russian-language clip on YouTube. Commenters are more preoccupied with a surprise appearance from one of Marvel's stable of superheroes, the quality of the CGI effects, and whether Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr) Ironman suit is able to stop a bullet from point-blank range.
Next story: Stray dogs deemed terror threat at Indian airport
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Northern Ireland could face direct rule, or another election if no agreement is reached by early May, James Brokenshire has warned.
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The secretary of state said discussions would "pause" for Easter.
Stormont's parties have yet to strike a deal to form an executive almost six weeks after the assembly election.
Meanwhile, DUP leader Arlene Foster says she will contact Irish language speakers, saying she wants to better understand those who love the language.
Issues including the Irish language and the legacy of the Troubles are seen as the main sticking points in the current talks.
On Wednesday, Mr Brokenshire said: "If no executive is formed by early May, I will need to take further steps to ensure Northern Ireland has the political stability it needs.
"This is likely to mean, however undesirable, either a second election or a return to decision making from Westminster."
Critical issues
In his statement, Mr Brokenshire said the restoration of devolution remained achievable, but "more time and a more focused engagement on the critical issues are required".
Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan, who has been involved in the talks, welcomed the secretary of state's statement.
"In particular, at this critical and challenging time for Northern Ireland as we approach negotiations on the UK's withdrawal from the EU, the restoration of a power-sharing executive is essential," he said.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said the institutions could only operate "on the basis of rights, and that's rights for everybody ".
He said the impasse "could be sorted out by nine o'clock tonight" if that were recognised.
Asked whether there could be a deal, Mr Adams said: "The optimism of the heart always has to overcome the pessimism of the mind."
DUP leader Arlene Foster said she felt there had been "good engagement" and she emphasised the cultural aspect of the talks.
The former first minister said she intended to "listen to and engage with those from the Gaelic Irish background, those without the party political background".
This would encompass "people who genuinely love the Irish language and don't want to use it as a political weapon".
Irish language group Pobal said it would "gladly accept" Mrs Foster's invitation to meet with Irish speakers and it had written to Mrs Foster to arrange a meeting.
Analysis
By Enda McClafferty, BBC NI political correspondent
Many will think this a long way off the Arlene Foster during the election campaign, whenever she made it very clear there would be no Irish Language Act under her watch.
Her party has stressed this is not a change of policy but it was pretty deliberate Arlene Foster putting the information in the public domain that she plans to meet Irish Language groups beyond Sinn Féin, because she wants to hear from those who have no political baggage.
This could be the first step towards clearing the way among her own people, to be able to say we can now make a decision on an Irish Language Act without the influence of, or demands from, Sinn Féin.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he was "furious and frustrated" another deadline had been missed.
"I don't know how I can look at the public out there when I meet them over the next couple of days that once again we have missed another deadline. I don't think it's good enough," he said.
Mr Eastwood also called on the parties to reduce the prominence of their unelected special advisers in the talks.
Ulster Unionist Tom Elliott said the talks had been "extremely frustrating".
He said that at times it felt like "Back to the Future" as the parties returned to matters they discussed three-and-a-half years ago.
Mr Elliott said he feared that "some people are going through the motions".
Snap election
The political deadlock came after a snap election on 2 March brought an end to Stormont's unionist majority and the DUP's lead over Sinn Féin was cut from 10 seats to one.
Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing agreement, the executive must be jointly run by unionists and nationalists, with the largest party putting forward a candidate for first minister.
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness quit as deputy first minister in January in protest against the DUP's handling of a botched green energy scheme.
The party said it would not share power with Mrs Foster as first minister until the conclusion of a public inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.
Mr McGuinness died last month at the age of 66.
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The Covid-19 vaccine will "definitely" be ready to go into care homes in the next two weeks, the regulator has said.
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The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had approved the way doses would be distributed to homes.
It means care home residents and staff may not be the first to receive jabs, despite being the top priority.
But the UK's chief medical officers say the vaccine will only have a "marginal impact" on winter hospital numbers.
In a letter to colleagues, the chief medical officers of England (Prof Chris Whitty), Scotland (Dr Gregor Smith), Wales (Dr Frank Atherton) and Northern Ireland (Dr Michael McBride) warn this winter could be "especially hard" for the health service due to coronavirus.
"Although the very welcome news about vaccines means that we can look forward to 2021 with greater optimism, vaccine deployment will have only a marginal impact in reducing numbers coming into the health service with Covid over the next three months," they said.
They added they did not expect the virus to "disappear" even once full vaccination had occurred.
Festive gatherings are likely to place "additional pressure" on hospitals and GPs in the New Year, which "we need to be ready for", the experts said.
Cold temperatures
The experts' warning comes as vaccinations are expected to begin at 50 hospital hubs in England on Tuesday.
NHS England also says GP-run vaccination centres will be up and running from 14 December and are expected to start inviting in patients aged over 80.
Dr Ellie Cannon, a GP in North London, said local GPs were working together to provide one centre or one team to administer the vaccines.
"We've been told we need to be available to vaccinate people from 8am to 8pm," she told BBC Breakfast, adding there was "a lot of enthusiasm among healthcare staff to help and to be involved".
She cautioned that strict guidelines would have to be followed and only "the most high risk" would receive the vaccine in the first week.
"Don't call us, we will be calling you," she advised patients. "GPs have already identified exactly who their high risk patients are. We don't have the facility to bypass the rules," she warned.
Because of how the vaccine doses are packed, the regulator needs to approve the way in which they are broken down into smaller consignments for distribution to care homes, while ensuring that the vaccine stays at very cold temperatures.
Asked when the vaccine would get to care homes, Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, told BBC Radio Cumbria that it might be "variable" but added: "I would say definitely within the next two weeks."
The MHRA, which regulates medicines across the UK, requires that the vaccine doses are repacked for shipping to care homes in refrigerated cold rooms at between 2 and 8C and transferred into carriers that maintain the same temperature.
As soon as they thaw the vials of vaccine, assemblers have 12 hours to pack them, label them and transport them to care homes, an operation that has never been done before at this scale.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the UK is "absolutely confident" it will have 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - the first to be approved by the regulator - next week.
He said more doses were expected by the end of the year, but he was unable to specify how many.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also said they are ready to begin vaccinations on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, official data showed infection levels were falling in all English regions, except the North East.
The government said the R number - the average number of people each person with Covid-19 goes on to infect - had fallen to between 0.8 and 1 in the UK, from between 0.9 and 1 last week.
It also reported that a further 504 people had died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, bringing the total number of deaths in the UK to 60,617.
The first consignment of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine arrived in the UK on Thursday, and the government has ordered 40 million doses in total - enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
Elderly people in care homes and care home staff have been placed top of the priority list - as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) - followed by the over-80s and front-line health and social care staff.
Prof Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the JCVI, told The World at One on BBC Radio 4 he understood the elderly in care homes "might not end up being the first priority group for operational reasons" and the committee would "closely monitor this".
He stressed the JCVI still expected care home residents "to be prioritised".
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the vaccines would now have reached 50 hospital hubs to enable vaccinations to begin on Tuesday.
Hospitals were working out how many care home residents, care home staff and over-80s they can get it to, he said.
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Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 breakfast show has lost just over one million listeners in the past three months, according to industry body Rajar.
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It had 8.48 million listeners a week, down from last quarter's record 9.53 million, but still higher than his predecessor Sir Terry Wogan.
Digital station 6 Music reached a record 1.19 million listeners - doubling its audience from last year.
The figures come after the BBC Trust rejected plans to close the station.
BBC Radio 4 and 5 live recorded their biggest ever audiences during the general election period, with the Today programme also attracting a record number of listeners.
Radio 4 reached 10.4 million people every week, up from 10 million last quarter, with the Today programme bringing in an extra 540,000 weekly listeners - while 5 live drew 6.76 million listeners per week.
However despite the record figures, the overall reach all of BBC Radio fell slightly to 34.59 million from 34.88 million in the last quarter with a share of 54.6%, down from 56.5%.
In May, Rajar said Evans had added more than one million listeners to the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show after replacing Sir Terry Wogan at the start of the year. His show is on air for half an hour longer each day than Sir Terry's programme.
Tim Davie, director of BBC Audio & Music, said: "This is another good set of figures for the radio industry.
"I'm delighted to see our speech networks attracting record audiences, fuelled by interest in the general election and illustrating the public's enduring demand for high quality news, analysis and discussion on radio."
Meanwhile, Rajar's data showed that commercial radio has grown by nearly one million listeners across the year, increasing to 32.8m, with an overall share of 43.2%.
"This is a fantastic set of results for the commercial radio sector showing long-term and sustained growth by every measure," said Andrew Harrison, chief executive of industry body RadioCentre.
Overall radio listening in the UK hit a record high, breaking the previous record set last quarter, to reach 46.8 million adults, or 90.6% of the population aged over 15, tuning in to their favourite radio stations each week.
It also revealed that 25% of all radio listening was via digital platforms, an increase of 17% year on year.
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) set ownership increased by 7.6% year on year, with more than one third of the population now claiming to live in a household which has a DAB receiver.
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Former Great British Bake Off finalist Luis Troyano, who starred in series five of the show in 2014, has died from oesophageal cancer at the age of 48.
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"Sadly, my lovely client lost his brave fight against oesophageal cancer last week," tweeted his agent Anne Kibel.
"A fantastic man with a love of baking that saw him get to the finals of GBBO, write a wonderful book, Bake It Great, and do so much more," she added.
After the show, Troyano said Bake Off had "totally changed my life".
"As well as being given the opportunity to write a book, I now also bake for a living, which is simply amazing. As far as baking goes, I can certainly bake a lot faster now than before the GBBO," he told Food and Drinks Guide.
Following his stint on Bake Off, Troyano made appearances on BBC Good Food and BBC Breakfast shows. He released a book called Bake it Great in 2015.
Writing on a Just Giving page she set up to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, his wife Louise wrote: "Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.
"This page has been set up for Macmillan Cancer Support but in truth, Luis gave a big thank you to everyone involved in his care."
She then posted Troyano's own words, in which he thanked Macmillan, the NHS and East Cheshire Hospice "for trying to save my life and their tireless work to try and eliminate cancer. But more importantly a massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible. I thank you sincerely."
Before competing on the show, Troyano was a marketing manager, hailing from Poynton, near Stockport. During the contest he memorably created a tribute to his hometown in one of his showstopper bakes.
He also made a caramel-gilded cake depicting The Cage, a tower in the National Trust's Lyme Park in Cheshire.
In an interview with Cheshire Life he said: "I'm a proud Stockport guy. I have no shame in saying where I'm from.
"I did The Cage mainly because it's my wife's favourite place to visit. I never expected that cake to get the response it did. When it aired, it went crazy with people going, 'Where is this and what is it he's done?'"
Nadiya Hussain, who won the baking contest in 2015, paid tribute, writing "RIP" on Twitter.
The official Great British Bake Off account tweeted it had been a "huge honour and pleasure" to have Troyano as a contestant.
Former Bake Off host Sue Perkins said she was "gutted" to learn of Troyano's death.
Troyano's fellow 2014 contestants Chetna Makan and Martha Collison, also honoured the baker.
And Manchester City Football Club, the team Troyano supported, expressed their sadness.
In 2014, Troyano opened his first bakery in his hometown, called The Hive Bakery and in 2015, he was announced as the patron of Beechwood Cancer Care Centre.
He told Manchester Evening News his father died of cancer when he was 16.
"I have lived in Stockport all my life and wanted to support a charity that was close to home," he said.
"It feels great to be a patron at Beechwood. There was nothing like Beechwood when I lost my dad and it was a tough time.
"My time on The Great British Bake Off has been life changing and I feel honoured to support Beechwood."
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As politicians, unions and industry figures unite in a bid to save the Michelin tyre factory in Dundee, what is the firm's current position in the UK, and what might happen next?
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By Philip SimBBC Scotland News
What does Michelin do?
The company was established by brothers Edouard and Andre Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in 1889.
Today it has more than 100,000 employees in dozens of plants worldwide, and has cornered a significant chunk of the global market in tyres for cars and trucks, producing more than 150 million every year.
Its UK operations are run from Stoke-on-Trent, and over the years has included manufacturing plants in Ballymena, Burnley and Dundee.
The Dundee factory, which has an 850-strong workforce, was opened in 1971, and at its peak churned out about seven million car tyres a year for export across the globe.
The importance of the plant to Dundee is hard to overstate - it is the largest industrial employer in the city, with about 850 workers, and is thought to contribute about £40m to the local economy each year. Its two wind turbines also make it something of a local landmark.
What's going on?
Michelin confirmed on 5 November that the Dundee plant was to close, saying it had faced "serious difficulties" due to changes in the market for car tyres and competition from "low-cost, entry-level products from Asia".
The firm said despite expensive efforts made to modernise the plant, "the accelerated market transformation has made the plant unsuitable and its conversion is not financially viable".
Michelin Dundee manager John Reid said the plant had been "operating in a very difficult market context for more than a year", saying production volume had been cut three times in the past year.
He said: "This year we actually produced the lowest volume we've ever produced in the factory, so it was clear that something fairly fundamental was happening."
BBC Scotland's business and economy editor Douglas Fraser said the market for the tyres the Dundee factory specialises in has "fallen away sharply".
He said that the auto industry is "in the early stages of very significant change", and that Michelin's Scottish workforce "has been very unfortunate to find that it is making the items that are going out of automotive fashion".
Read more from Douglas Fraser here
What is being done about it?
The immediate reaction was one of horror, with union Unite said the factory closing down would be a "hammer blow" to Dundee.
The Scottish government swiftly moved to set up an "action group" in a bid to save the plant.
The team includes Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay, Scottish Secretary David Mundell, Dundee City Council leader John Alexander, Scottish Enterprise chief Steve Dunlop, and a range of other union and industry figures.
Mr Mackay said the group would "work tirelessly in the coming weeks to explore options" to either keep the plant open, or find a new use for it.
Are Michelin definitely leaving?
Although Michelin have been quite firm that they are leaving Dundee, the Scottish government has refused to give up hope, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying that "we do not want to assume at this stage that that is an inevitable outcome".
Beyond that, she said the government's "absolutely priority is for the site to continue with commercial production".
Mr Mackay met Michelin executives in Paris on Sunday, and insisted that "it's possible" that the French firm still has a future in Dundee.
He said: "Because they're phasing the closure to 2020, I think it gives the company some time. They have a presence in Scotland and I want that presence to continue beyond that.
"I have not given up hope on that company. I think its really important with the window of opportunity we have, not to squander it and do the best by Dundee and the wider region."
What if they do leave?
There is some precedent here: Michelin closed its Ballymena plant in Northern Ireland earlier this year, with job losses on a similar scale to those threatened in Dundee.
There are now plans to develop the site as a business park for other manufacturing companies, while the local council has taken over part of the site in a bid to turn it into a "logistics hub" to help with the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Another former Michelin plant in Burnley, which closed in 2002, is now used by a firm manufacturing specialist car parts.
The government says it is "open to a range of ideas" about how the Dundee site could be used in future, and Mr Dunlop has been tasked with coming up with ideas about how it could be "repurposed".
This could be for work Michelin already does - such as research and development - or other uses.
Is there public money tied up in the factory?
The Scottish government has put £8m into the Dundee plant over the last decade - including a £4.5m grant in 2017 to help modernise equipment.
Mr Mackay confirmed that there are "claw-back conditions" in the grants which might see some taxpayer funds being repaid if Michelin does leave.
He said: "There's conditionality around the grants, and if they don't stay there would be claw-back of that. That's a few million pounds, that's incredibly important, but right now I'm focused on the jobs.
"All the other grants they met the conditions, but the most recent one they've only drawn down some of that, so that would have to be paid back. That's for the future though, righty now the mission is to save as many jobs as possible."
The finance secretary also said his "mind is open" to putting more money into the plant going forward - "that would be worth it if it retains jobs, if it gives a future and contributes to the regional and national economy".
Do these taskforces work?
This is not the first action group or taskforce set up to fight against the closure of an industrial landmark. Recent examples suggest that a deal is not necessarily out of the question, but nor should it be looked upon as a sure thing.
One success story is the Motherwell and Cambuslang steel mills mothballed in 2015 by Tata Steel, which were bought out by Liberty House via the Scottish government.
The facilities were formally reopened by Ms Sturgeon the following year, who praised the "tremendous team effort" of the steel taskforce.
There was initially hope for offshore manufacturing outfit BiFab, after it was bought out by a Canadian engineering firm in another deal brokered by the Scottish government.
However, all but a handful of staff were ultimately made redundant, with the yards in Fife and Lewis "effectively closed" while the company struggles to secure new contracts.
An action group was also set up in a bid to save the Pinneys plant in Annan after Young's Seafood decided to move production to Grimsby.
The plant shut its doors in September, although the government has pledged to keep working to find a buyer.
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The market is booming in apps which offer women the chance to monitor the cycles of their monthly periods.
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By Jane DreaperHealth correspondent, BBC News
There are thought to have been as many as 200m downloads of period tracking apps worldwide.
But a leading UK medical royal college has warned that women should not rely on them as a form of contraception.
And privacy campaigners say users should be wary of what data they might unwittingly be sharing when they download some apps.
A search for period tracking apps will quickly bring up dozens of offerings - some with charts, others illustrated with pink tulips or lilac flowers.
In the health and fitness category, period trackers come second only to apps which monitor running.
Amy Worsfold, from Greenwich, south-east London, has used different trackers for three years. She is a soprano opera singer.
Amy told me: "When you are starting your period or you're pre-menstrual, the hormones that rush around your body affect your larynx in ways that are detrimental to your singing voice.
"I use the app to avoid auditions, premieres or really important performances on those days if I can."
'Taking ownership of something that sucks'
She plots and predicts her cycle on her smartphone. The app also helps her identify connections with changes in her emotions, eating habits and headaches.
Amy added: "Being able to chart what happens to you and how you uniquely respond to your cycle is a great way of taking ownership of something that really sucks - but is completely necessary."
Sometimes women download period trackers to monitor their fertility.
But the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has warned they should not be used as a form of contraception.
Only one such app on the market has been independently evaluated for effectiveness in this area.
Generally, they are not classed as medical devices, which would involve stricter regulation.
'Very powerful tool'
Ida Tin is the Berlin-based Danish entrepreneur behind an app called Clue. Around 10% of her market is in the UK.
She said: "I wanted to develop the next generation of technology for family planning - and I do believe we'll get there. But we're not there yet."
Women in Mexico and Brazil have recently shown huge interest in Clue, possibly because of fears about getting pregnant during the Zika virus outbreak.
Ida Tin is interested in how anonymised user data from her free app can be used for the greater good.
To this end, she is collaborating with medical researchers at Oxford University. She has built her business on a responsible approach.
She added: "The app is a very powerful tool. I can't do what our users want me to do unless I use their data.
"I appreciate I'm asking people for a lot of trust in me, but a lot of companies [in the same line of work as mine] don't honour that trust."
'Nobody reads terms and conditions'
Some apps which are more firmly pointed at conception have a clear value to advertisers - as a woman planning a baby is a potential market for prams, clothing and many other purchases.
Sam Smith is a privacy campaigner at medConfidential.
He said: "For all medical apps, but especially for conception apps, there needs to be a source people can trust that's independent and says this app is safe for you.
"You can read the terms and conditions - and legally you are required to. But everybody knows that nobody does."
He sees the lack of regulation, or even official recommendation, as a market failure in this area.
His advice is that if an app is free, consider whether you are paying for it in effect by giving away your data - and investigate where it might be going.
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A burst water main has flooded several houses, forcing some residents out of their homes for four weeks.
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Water was filmed gushing from under the pavement on Great Western Way in Swindon earlier.
Firefighters pumped floodwater out of houses in Meadow Road, while nearby shops and roads were also affected. One resident described it as "a complete nightmare".
Thames Water said engineers were "working hard" to fix the pipe.
David Cousens, who lives on Meadow Road with his wife and three daughters, including a three-month-old baby, said about "an inch of water" had "seeped through across the entire ground floor of the house".
"It literally came in through the front, back, the kitchen, the hallway, the living room. It was really fast. It's a complete nightmare. It has caused loads and loads of destruction," said the 40-year-old.
He added he had been told by Thames Water that his family needed to "get their stuff" and prepare to be out of the house for about four weeks.
Lyn Curtis, 56, who also lives on the road, said homes in the area had been flooded about 12 years ago and "it's like a nightmare happening again".
She added: "It was like a river flowing. You could see it coming into our estate and the drains were bubbling, the toilets were bubbling, and you know what sort of rubbish is going to come up from there.
"It was like a stream gradually coming further and further up the estate. It was right up to the top of your wellies, that's how high it was."
A Thames Water spokeswoman said: "We're really sorry for what's happened and our priority is supporting those people whose homes have been flooded.
"Our insurance team has been speaking to customers to assess the damage and each individual resident's needs and we'll do everything we can to get their lives back to normal as soon as we can."
She added that "engineers have confirmed all customers are in supply after rerouting water through our pipe network".
Great Western Way, between the Bridgemead and Barnfield roundabouts, has been closed by police, who described the flood as "significant".
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Amid a deluge of child-shaming videos, one American dad's anti-humiliation film has been viewed millions of times.
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BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why
Shame has long been part of the parenting repertoire. Caught pinching sweets? A parent might march the child back down to the shop to apologise to the owner. In playgrounds all over the world, children are forced to publicly apologise to peers they've tormented with sharp elbows and thrown sand.
But in an era when many young people live their lives on the internet, the internet also gives parents entirely new shaming possibilities. There's recently been a spate of videos where parents have taken to social media to embarrass or humiliate their wayward youth. There was the woman who outed her daughter's lie about her age... the mother who followed her truanting child around school... and the trend of viral hair-cutting videos.
But one father of four in Florida has waded into the debate with a video arguing that online shaming has gone way too far. In a video viewed 20 million times (and counting), Wayman Gresham stands over his son with an electric razor: "I'm going to teach my son a lesson." The boy, his head down, plays along. But just before the first cut is made, Gresham calls the punishment to a halt: "Wait a minute. Come here boy, give me a hug.
"There's no way in the world I would ever embarrass my son like that," he says into the camera. "It doesn't take all that. Good parenting starts before he even gets to the point of being out of control." Gresham's video, which promotes a play he wrote and directed, also includes a strong Christian message.
"I've gone on Facebook and many times I've seen this kind of punishment, cutting off the hair or a child being embarrassed one way or another," Gresham told BBC Trending. "There is no legitimate reason for humiliating your child, there is no legitimate reason for snatching their dignity away."
"I wouldn't dare call these parents 'bad parents' because they made bad mistakes," he said. "Nevertheless, to get on Facebook and humiliate your child like this, it's not for the benefit of the child. The overall message is, we could all do better as parents."
Many experts agree. Child psychologist Karyl McBride told Trending: "I think it would be difficult to find someone in the field of psychology and mental health who would say [public child shaming] is appropriate."
"When parents are shaming and humiliating children, that impacts the child's ability to have proper bonding and attachment with those parents. It impairs trust," she says. "It causes the children to grow up with internal messages of 'I'm a bad person.' And that's not going to develop a healthy human being."
Shaming videos have sharply divided the opinions of the general public - for example, some felt that Val Starks, the Denver mother who berated her daughter for lying about her age online, was doing a good job. "You are trying to preserve her innocence and childhood," read one comment on Starks's video. Many others, though, took the opposite view. "This isn't good parenting," one commented, "this is bullying."
Reporting by Sam Judah
Blog by Mike Wendling
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When British mathematics students tumbled out of this year's GCSE exam (given to 16-year-olds), one very difficult question was on their minds.READ MORE
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Peru's public broadcaster, TV Peru, has begun broadcasting its first ever news programme in Quechua, the ancient indigenous language spoken by some eight million people in the Andes.
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The hour-long programme, entitled Nuqanchik (We), airs on weekdays at 05:30 on radio and TV.
All journalists and producers working on the programme are native speakers.
Quechua was spoken by the indigenous people of Peru before the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th Century.
It was declared a national language alongside Spanish in the 1970s but Peruvians say there is still a strong social stigma attached to speaking it.
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has backed the new programme and sent its producers and presenters a message in Quechua: "Allinta munay, allinta yachay, allinta ruway," (Wish well, learn well, do well.)
Mr Kuczynski, both of whose parents emigrated to Peru from Europe, said he hoped the programme would help end discrimination.
Presenter Marisol Mena said it would contribute to creating an awareness that Quechua was not a language of the poor or disadvantaged.
"There's resistance, but [Peruvians] have to understand that there are business executives and university professors who speak Quechua as a mother tongue," she told the Agence France Press news agency.
TV Peru said it was planning to launch similar programmes in other indigenous languages.
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Archaeologists have begun excavating a prehistoric burial chamber on Dartmoor in Devon.
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The burial chamber, known as a cist, is on Whitehorse Hill, near Chagford.
It was discovered 10 years ago when one its stones fell out of the peat which had been concealing it.
Dartmoor National Parks Authority (DNPA) said it was over 100 years since a burial chamber on Dartmoor had been excavated.
It said the chamber was unusual because it was not near any other known archaeological sites.
Archaeologists hope to analyse buried pollen, insects and charcoal in the peat to establish details of the surrounding landscape when the chamber was created.
Artefacts search
They are also looking for artefacts deposited as part of the burial ritual, including pottery, beads and stone tools.
It is believed the burial took place about 5,000 years ago.
DNPA said the prehistoric cists found on Dartmoor were chest-like structures, usually sunk into the ground, with two long granite side slabs and two end slabs set between the sides and covered with a large slab.
There are nearly 200 surviving cists on the moor.
The results of the excavation at Whitehorse Hill will be published later in the year.
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